The royal archives smelled of dust, old parchment, and something else—something acrid that made Elara's nose wrinkle. Magic, she was learning to recognize. Old magic that had soaked into documents over decades, leaving traces that never quite faded.
"This section contains all official records from the year my mother died," Kael said, gesturing to a row of shelves that stretched toward the vaulted ceiling. His voice echoed in the vast chamber. "Witness statements, the coroner's examination, magical residue analysis, everything."
Elara moved closer to the shelves, running her fingers along the leather spines. "How thorough was the investigation?"
"At the time? Extremely thorough. My father wanted answers." Kael pulled down a thick volume, blowing dust from its cover. "But looking back now, knowing what we know, I wonder if the investigation was controlled. If certain conclusions were predetermined."
Captain Thorne stood near the door, ostensibly guarding them but actually serving as lookout in case anyone questioned their presence. The King had granted them access, but that didn't mean everyone would approve of their digging through old tragedies.
Elara opened the first volume of witness statements. The handwriting was precise, formal, each statement recorded by court scribes. She began reading aloud.
"Lady Morgana's statement: 'I saw Queen Arianna earlier that evening. She seemed distracted but not distressed. She mentioned having correspondence to attend to and retired to her chambers around the ninth hour. I saw nothing unusual.' That's it. That's all she said?"
Kael looked over her shoulder, his presence warm against her back. "Morgana was careful. She couldn't reveal that she'd been helping my mother with forbidden research without implicating herself."
"But she knew more than she said." Elara flipped through more pages. "Most of these statements are similar. Everyone saw the Queen earlier that day. No one noticed anything wrong. Everyone was shocked by her death."
"Too shocked," Kael murmured. "Too uniform in their responses."
They worked in silence for nearly an hour, pulling volumes from shelves and spreading them across the massive oak table that dominated the archive's center. The documents painted a picture of a tragedy that seemed straightforward: the Queen had been found at dawn, her body at the base of the tower. The investigation concluded she'd jumped from her chambers, driven to despair by her son's curse and visions of what he might become.
But the details didn't quite align.
"Kael, look at this." Elara held up two different documents. "The coroner's initial report says your mother's body showed signs consistent with a fall from great height. But there's a notation here, a question mark next to the description of bruising on her throat."
Kael took the document, his face growing pale as he read. "Bruising on the throat isn't consistent with jumping. That's consistent with being strangled first."
"And this." Elara handed him another page. "The magical residue analysis. It detected shadow magic at the scene, which everyone assumed came from your shade even though you were ten and nowhere near the tower that night."
"My shade was barely manifesting then. I couldn't control it at all, and it certainly couldn't extend that far from my physical location." Kael's hands trembled slightly as he set down the documents. "Someone used shadow magic that night. Someone with full control of their shade, not a terrified child."
"Daemon," Elara said quietly.
"It has to be." Kael paced between the shelves, his frustration evident. "But this was all here. These inconsistencies existed in the original investigation. Why didn't anyone question them?"
"Maybe someone did." Elara returned to the shelves, searching for supplementary documents. "Maybe those questions were buried. Or maybe the people who asked them ended up like Morgana."
She found what she was looking for tucked behind other volumes, as if someone had deliberately hidden it. A thin folder containing additional statements, these ones marked 'Excluded from Official Record.'
"Kael, come here."
They spread the excluded statements across the table. Most were from servants, people whose testimonies had apparently been deemed unreliable or irrelevant. But their accounts told a different story than the official version.
A kitchen maid reported seeing a figure in a dark cloak leaving the Queen's tower near midnight, hours after Arianna had supposedly jumped. A guard mentioned hearing raised voices from the tower—two voices, both arguing—before everything went silent. A young page described finding a piece of torn fabric caught on the tower stairs, fabric that didn't match anything the Queen had been wearing.
"These testimonies contradict the suicide conclusion," Elara said. "Why were they excluded?"
Captain Thorne finally spoke from his position by the door. "Because they complicated the narrative. When someone powerful wants a certain conclusion, inconvenient evidence gets dismissed as unreliable."
"My father wanted to believe it was suicide," Kael said bitterly. "Easier to accept that grief and fear drove her to it than to confront the possibility that someone murdered her in our own castle. Easier to blame my curse than to admit he'd failed to protect her."
Elara touched his arm gently. "Or someone convinced him suicide was the only logical explanation. Someone who had access to these documents, who could shape the investigation's conclusions."
"Daemon couldn't have done that directly. He was supposed to be dead." Kael ran his hands through his hair, a gesture Elara was learning meant he was deeply frustrated. "He would have needed someone else. Someone inside the castle with authority."
"Someone still inside the castle," Elara added. "Someone who's been protecting this secret for fifteen years."
The implications were chilling. They weren't just investigating a murder from the past. They were searching for a current conspirator who held enough power to manipulate royal investigations and silence inconvenient witnesses.
"We need to find out who conducted the original investigation," Elara said. "Who was in charge of collecting evidence, determining which testimonies were included or excluded."
Kael flipped to the front of the official report. His face went still as he read the signature at the bottom. "The investigation was overseen by Lord Chancellor Marcus Ashwood."
"The King's chief advisor at the time," Captain Thorne supplied. "He died about eight years ago. Natural causes, supposedly."
"Convenient," Elara said. "Dead men tell no tales."
"But he must have had assistants. Scribes who recorded the testimonies, officials who helped him. Someone might still be alive who remembers." Kael began gathering the excluded testimonies carefully. "We need to find these people before someone else does. Before whoever killed Morgana decides they're also a threat."
A sound from the corridor outside made them all freeze. Footsteps, measured and purposeful, approaching the archive. Captain Thorne's hand went to his sword.
The door opened, and Theron stepped inside. Kael's brother looked tired, his formal clothing slightly disheveled as if he'd been searching for them throughout the castle.
"So this is where you've been hiding." Theron's tone was neutral, giving nothing away. "Father is looking for you both. There's been another incident."
Elara's stomach dropped. "What kind of incident?"
"Two servants were found dead in the east wing. Their throats were cut, and there was a message carved into the wall nearby." Theron's eyes met Kael's. "It said 'Stop digging or more will die.' Someone knows you're investigating."
Kael swore, slamming his fist onto the table hard enough to make the documents jump. His shade flickered at the edges of his form, responding to his anger.
"Did anyone see who did it?" Elara forced herself to stay calm, to think tactically even though fear was clawing at her throat. Two more innocent people dead because she and Kael were asking questions.
"No witnesses. It happened during the shift change when that section of the castle is usually empty." Theron moved closer, studying the documents spread across the table. "What have you found?"
"Evidence that my mother was murdered, not suicidal." Kael's voice was tight with controlled rage. "Evidence that the investigation was deliberately manipulated to hide that fact. Evidence that whoever did it is still here and willing to kill to protect their secret."
Theron was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was softer than Elara had ever heard it. "I was thirteen when she died. Old enough to remember her clearly. She was kind to me and Darian, even when we were difficult. She never seemed like someone who would abandon her children."
"She wouldn't have," Kael said. "She was murdered because she discovered something dangerous. Something about Daemon still being alive."
"Our uncle who's supposedly been dead for decades." Theron's expression was unreadable. "This conspiracy goes deeper than any of us imagined."
"Why are you here, Theron?" Kael asked bluntly. "To warn us? To spy for Father? To stop us?"
"To help," Theron said, meeting his brother's eyes. "If someone murdered our mother and has been killing people to hide it, they need to be stopped. And despite what you might think, I loved her too. I want justice for her."
Elara studied Theron carefully, trying to read the truth in his expression. He seemed genuine, but trust was difficult when everyone was suspect.
"Then help us find out who assisted Lord Chancellor Ashwood with the investigation," she said, making a decision. "Someone who would have seen all the evidence, who would have known about the excluded testimonies. Someone still alive who might be convinced to tell us what really happened."
Theron nodded slowly. "I can do that. But you both need to be more careful. Whoever sent that message isn't making idle threats. They've already proven they'll kill to protect their secret."
"We'll be careful," Kael promised, though Elara could hear the lie in his voice. Careful was the last thing either of them could afford to be now. They needed answers, and answers required taking risks.
After Theron left to begin his inquiries, Elara and Kael gathered the most important documents to take with them. They couldn't leave everything in the archives where it might disappear or be destroyed.
"He could be the conspirator," Kael said as they worked. "Theron could be the one who killed those servants. Who's trying to scare us off."
"I know," Elara replied. "But we don't have the luxury of trusting no one. We need allies, and he's offering to help. We use him while staying alert."
"When did you become so ruthlessly pragmatic?" Kael asked, a hint of admiration in his voice.
"When I married a cursed prince and someone immediately tried to kill us both." She smiled despite the grimness of their situation. "I'm learning quickly."
They returned to their chambers escorted by Captain Thorne, hyper-aware of every shadow in the corridors, every servant who passed too close. The castle that had seemed merely cold and forbidding when Elara arrived now felt actively hostile. Somewhere in these stone walls walked a murderer who had gotten away with killing a queen and was still killing to protect that secret.
In their chambers, Kael locked the door and checked the windows before finally allowing himself to relax slightly. "We're getting close to something important. That message proves it."
"We're also becoming more visible targets." Elara set down the documents they'd taken. "Maybe we should pretend to stop investigating. Make whoever this is think they've scared us off."
"And then what? Wait for them to kill someone else? Wait for them to come after you?" Kael shook his head. "No. We keep pushing. We find the truth, and we end this."
Elara moved closer to him, taking his hands in hers. "Then we do it together. No splitting up, no taking unnecessary risks alone. We're stronger as partners."
"Partners," Kael agreed, pulling her into an embrace. His arms around her felt like safety, like home, like the first real protection she'd ever known. "Whatever comes, we face it together."