Sera's POV
She ran before Kael could say anything else.
The archives, the doubt in his eyes, the way he had transformed from vulnerable to strategic in seconds—it was too much. She needed to think. She needed to understand what her father had done and why. She needed space from the way Kael looked at her like she might betray him.
The lower palace corridors were a maze of stone and shadows. Servants moved through them carrying water and linens. No one stopped her. No one questioned a woman in fine clothes moving with purpose. She was invisible down here, which meant she was free.
She followed the smell of baking bread.
The kitchens sprawled across the palace's lower levels—ovens and tables and enormous copper pots. Heat rolled out like a living thing. In the corner of the largest room, elbow-deep in flour, was Lysa.
Sera's breath caught.
Lysa had been with her since childhood. When Sera's mother died, Lysa had been the one to hold her. When their father's debts spiraled, Lysa had been the one to help manage the household with Sera. When everything fell apart, Lysa had disappeared into the palace kitchens, and Sera had thought she had lost her too.
"Lysa," Sera said, and the word came out like a prayer.
Lysa looked up. Flour dusted her hair and face. For one moment there was nothing but shock. Then she dropped everything and moved across the room in three strides.
They collided in an embrace that felt like survival.
"You're alive," Lysa whispered. "I heard you were brought to the palace. I heard the Emperor claimed you. I didn't—I couldn't—" She pulled back and held Sera's face in her hands. "Are you hurt? Has he—"
"No," Sera said. "It's not like that. But Lysa, I need help. My father sent a message. He's confessing to conspiracy. He's claiming I was part of it. Kael thinks I might be a spy and—"
"Your father is an idiot," Lysa interrupted bluntly. "Everyone who works in this palace knows it. The Emperor's been protecting you since that night at the gala. He dismissed every accusation before they could stick. He made sure nobody could touch you."
Sera felt something shift in her chest. Kael had been protecting her. Even when he looked at her with doubt, he had been protecting her.
"Lysa, what do you know? What have you heard?"
Lysa pulled her toward a storage room and closed the door. The space was narrow, lined with jars and dried herbs. It smelled safe. It smelled like the days before everything broke.
"I work in the kitchens, which means nobody pays attention to me," Lysa said quietly. "But I hear everything. Three weeks ago, supplies started moving. Large quantities. Medical supplies mostly, but also weapons. Moving to the eastern wing at night. And the guard rotations changed. Extra men assigned to the Founding Ceremony."
"That's a public event," Sera said. "Why would they need extra guards?"
"Because," Lysa said, "someone's planning something during the ceremony. Something big enough that it requires both supplies and weapons. And your name keeps coming up in the conversations I've overheard."
Sera's stomach dropped.
"My name?"
"The conspirators talk about you like you're important to their plan," Lysa said. "Like whatever happens at the ceremony involves you somehow. One of them said—" She paused, choosing her words carefully. "One of them said, 'Once she chooses the Emperor, the empire will have to choose as well.'"
The words hung between them.
"Chooses?" Sera repeated. "Chooses what?"
"I don't know. But Sera, there's more." Lysa's grip on her arm tightened. "I found out who's behind the conspiracy. Who's been coordinating with Castor."
"Who?"
The storage room door opened.
A guard stood in the doorway. Not one of Kael's guard—one she didn't recognize. His hand was on his weapon.
"The Lady Sera is required by the Emperor," he said, and something in his voice told her this wasn't Kael's order.
"I'm coming," Sera said, standing slowly. Her mind was racing. This guard didn't work for Kael. Which meant someone was making moves. Someone was operating within the palace and commanding guard loyalty.
As she stepped toward the door, Lysa gripped her wrist.
"It's—" Lysa started, but the guard's hand moved to his sword.
"Silence," he commanded.
They walked through the lower corridors with the guard behind them. Sera's heart hammered. This wasn't a rescue. This was something else entirely. Something that meant the conspiracy was further along than anyone realized.
The guard led her not to Kael's chambers but deeper into the palace. Into passages she hadn't seen before. Older passages. More fortified. Somewhere important hidden beneath the glittering public spaces.
They emerged into a chamber lined with maps and documents. A war room. Secret. Underground.
And standing at the center of it, studying a map of the palace with the intensity of a general, was someone she recognized immediately.
Commander Orin.
The Emperor's oldest general. The man who had left her the map in her drawer. The man Kael trusted above all others.
"Commander," the guard said, bowing. "I've brought her as ordered."
Orin looked up. His expression didn't change when he saw Sera, which was somehow more terrifying than anger would have been.
"Leave us," he commanded the guard. Once they were alone, he gestured to the map. "Come here, Lady Sera. It's time you understood what's actually happening."
Sera didn't move. Every instinct screamed that walking to that map was a mistake.
"The Emperor is in danger," Orin said quietly. "Not from external forces. From internal ones. From people who believe his mercy will destroy the empire. From people who believe a tyrant is necessary, but not one who doubts."
"Kael would never—"
"Kael is changing," Orin interrupted. "Because of you. He's becoming soft. He's becoming a man who questions his own choices. He's becoming someone the empire can exploit." Orin stepped closer. "And I cannot allow that."
Sera understood suddenly. This wasn't about Castor. Castor was just a tool. The real conspiracy was internal. It was orchestrated by Kael's own general.
By the man he trusted completely.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want you to make a choice," Orin said. "Stand with the Emperor and watch him destroyed by his own compassion. Or stand with those of us who understand what the empire actually needs. A true tyrant. A man who cannot be moved by love."
Behind her, she heard footsteps. Multiple sets. Soldiers. Moving into position to trap her.
And Sera understood the real conspiracy at last.
It wasn't about the throne.
It was about making Kael into the monster the empire believed he was.
And she was the key to doing it.