***Cadiz***
Life here fell into a routine that felt both predictable and weird. I got up each morning to the bell, got dressed in silence, and walked through halls where servants bowed politely but barely talked. Meals were quiet, and evenings stretched long with wind scratching at the stone walls.
It should have been peaceful. But it wasn't.
Strange things started happening around me. Small stuff that felt like hints of something bigger underneath the calm. Candles flickered when I walked by, even when there was no breeze.
Once, while sitting by the fire, the flames suddenly doubled in size like they were surprised to see me, then went back to normal. The servants gave each other worried looks but didn't say anything.
At first it scared me, but after the third or fourth time, I wondered if I was imagining it. Maybe the stress of this new life was making me see things that weren't there. But then something happened that I couldn't brush off.
Mrs Garrett was struggling with this big water clock in the western gallery. Its gears were stuck and the pendulum had stopped moving. She was muttering about getting a craftsman when I stopped beside her.
Without thinking, I put my hand on the carved case. The clock shuddered once, then started ticking again like nothing had ever been wrong.
Mrs Garrett's eyes went wide and she quickly crossed herself, whispering a prayer. I jerked my hand back like I'd been burned, pretending I hadn't done anything. She thanked me in a shaky voice, but the way she looked at me afterward was part amazed and part scared.
The incidents got harder to ignore. Lamps flared when I walked into rooms. Frozen locks clicked open when I touched them, no force needed. Even the air seemed to buzz with something faint whenever I got upset or tired. And though the staff stayed polite, I caught them watching me, whispers following wherever I went.
It was during this unsettled time that Raizel's family came to visit.
They announced it only the day before, and the whole keep got thrown into frantic preparation. Fires were lit in unused rooms, tapestries were shaken out, tables polished until they gleamed.
By the time the Ashforde elders rode through the gates, the place almost seemed welcoming, though the cold mountain winds still howled through the courtyards.
There were three of them. Lord Eamon, Raizel's uncle, a man with grey hair but eyes as sharp as winter ice. Lady Brenna, Raizel's aunt, tall and stern, wearing a dark dress heavy with embroidered ravens. And Cousin Darius, younger than Raizel but older than me, with a quick smile and even sharper eyes.
They greeted Raizel with respect due to the head of their house, but their attention turned to me almost immediately.
"So this is the Eberhart omega."
Lord Eamon said, his voice carrying weight that made nearby servants go quiet. He studied me with open curiosity, his eyes moving from my face to my hands like he was searching for something hidden.
Lady Brenna's lips curved slightly. "Not much to look at, but there is... something."
She stepped closer, her fingers brushing the air near me without actually touching. "Do you feel it, Eamon? The way the air moves?"
I went stiff, not sure whether to answer or stay quiet. Darius saved me from deciding by giving a soft laugh.
"Interesting," he said smoothly. "No scent, no power, and yet the keep itself seems restless around him."
My face burned. I wanted to ask what he meant, but Raizel's voice cut across the hall like a blade.
"That's enough."
The room froze. Raizel's pale eyes were colder than I'd ever seen them. He stepped between me and his relatives, his presence commanding enough that even Lord Eamon hesitated.
"Cadiz is my spouse," Raizel said. "He's not some curiosity for you to poke at. If you have business with me, bring it to my study. Leave him out of it."
Lady Brenna's mouth tightened, though she nodded obediently. "As you wish, nephew. We only meant to greet the new addition to the family."
Raizel didn't answer. He stood there until they turned away, their faces carefully blank, and only then did he glance at me. His gaze lingered a bit longer than usual, but whatever he was thinking stayed locked away. Without a word, he motioned for Henrik to take his relatives to their rooms.
I stayed in the hall, my hands shaking.
For the rest of their visit, the elders didn't try to talk to me again. They were polite, sure, but their eyes followed me whenever I entered a room. I could feel their interest like a weight pressing down on my shoulders.
Whenever they came near, Raizel would appear without explanation, his presence a silent barrier. He changed conversations, gave me small tasks away from their meetings, and even changed the seating at meals so I was always at the far end of the table.
To everyone else, it might have looked like he was dismissing me. To me, it felt like being protected, though I couldn't understand why.
The weird incidents kept happening, getting bolder as days passed. A candelabrum fell over in the great hall but stopped mid-air, hanging there until I gasped and stumbled backward. A flock of ravens startled from the northern tower and flew above the keep in perfect formation, their cries echoing like a chant before they all vanished at once.
Each time, I felt the Ashforde elders' eyes on me, measuring, weighing.
And each time, Raizel became colder, more distant. He offered no explanations, no comfort, only silence. But when the elders finally left, I saw how his jaw clenched as their horses disappeared into the mountain pass. I wondered if his silence came not from not caring, but from something much heavier.
That night, I sat alone in the library with a book open but unread in front of me. The candles flickered again. The shadows on the walls twisted like they were alive. I pressed my hand against the table to steady myself, my chest tight with fear and something like excitement.
Somewhere in the keep, footsteps echoed. Slow, careful, familiar.
Raizel didn't come into the library, but I knew he'd stopped outside the door. His presence stayed there, silent, before fading away again into the depths of the keep.
I stared at the wavering flame until my eyes got blurry, my thoughts circling the same question without an answer.
Why was the air around me changing? And why did Raizel seem
so determined to hide me from the only people who might know the truth?