I could feel Kael's hand trembling in mine, his grip so tight it hurt. His shade continued to pour from him, filling the small room with shadows that moved like living things, hungry and angry and barely restrained. Whatever Elena was showing him was tearing him apart.
"Kael, please," I whispered, moving closer until I could press my other hand against his chest. His heart was racing beneath my palm, thundering like he was running for his life. "Come back to me. Whatever you're seeing, it's the past. It can't hurt you now."
The shadows writhed, responding to my presence. For a terrifying moment, I thought they might attack me, might see me as a threat to Kael and strike. But instead they seemed to recognize me, to hesitate, and that hesitation was enough.
Kael gasped, his eyes flickering from silver back to their normal storm gray. He released Elena's hand and stumbled backward, nearly taking me down with him. I steadied him, taking his weight as his shade slowly retreated back into his body, though I could still feel it there, agitated and dangerous beneath the surface.
"What did you see?" I asked quietly.
He didn't answer immediately. His breathing was ragged, his face pale, and when he finally looked at me, there was such raw grief in his eyes that it broke my heart.
"Everything," he said hoarsely. "I saw everything. Daemon confronting her. My mother trying to reason with him, trying to convince him to stop whatever he was planning. I saw him put his hands around her throat. Saw her fighting, trying to use her magic, but he was stronger. And I saw him throw her from the window after she was already dead, staging it to look like she'd jumped."
His voice cracked on the last words. I pulled him into an embrace, not caring that Elena was watching, not caring about anything except that Kael needed comfort and I was the only one who could give it to him.
"She didn't abandon you," I murmured against his shoulder. "She loved you. She died trying to protect you."
"I know." His arms came around me, holding on like I was the only thing keeping him anchored to the world. "I know that now. But knowing and seeing are different things. I felt Elena's helplessness, her terror. I understood why she didn't intervene. If she had, Daemon would have killed her too, and no one would have ever known the truth."
I held him for another moment, then pulled back just enough to look at his face. "Are you in control? Your shade..."
"I'm in control." He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Barely. But yes."
Elena had remained seated during the entire exchange, giving us space. Now she spoke carefully, as if afraid any wrong word might push Kael over the edge again.
"I'm sorry you had to experience that. But now you know I'm telling the truth. Now you understand what we're facing."
"Yes." Kael's voice had gone cold, controlled. It was the voice I was learning meant he'd locked down his emotions to function despite overwhelming feelings. "Tell me where Daemon is now. Tell me how to find him."
"I don't know his exact location. He moves frequently, never staying in one place long enough to be tracked. But I know he has a base somewhere in the northern mountains, in territory that once belonged to the old families before the Purge." Elena stood, moving to face Kael directly. "And I know he's been working toward something for years. Gathering forces, placing agents throughout the kingdom, waiting for the right moment to strike."
"Strike at what?" I asked. "What's his end goal?"
"The throne. He believes it should have been his, that his brother stole it by exiling him instead of helping him control his curse. He wants to destroy King Aldric and everyone who supports him, and then present himself as the rightful heir who can restore order from chaos."
The pieces were falling into place, forming a picture far more terrifying than simple revenge. This wasn't just about killing the King. This was about a coup, about destabilizing the entire kingdom so thoroughly that when Daemon revealed himself, people would welcome him as a savior rather than recognizing him as the monster who created the chaos in the first place.
"He needs us dead or discredited," I said, understanding. "Kael is the legitimate heir once King Aldric is gone. If Daemon is going to claim the throne, he has to eliminate the competition first."
"Exactly. Which is why the attacks started immediately after your marriage. A foreign princess makes a perfect target. Kill her, drive Kael mad with grief, make him lose control of his shade publicly so everyone sees him as the dangerous monster they've always feared." Elena's expression was grim. "Daemon is patient and thorough. He's been building toward this for fifteen years."
"Then we have to move faster than he expects," Kael said. "We find his agents in the castle. We expose the conspiracy before he can execute whatever final plan he's building toward. And we find him before he finds us."
"That's why I'm here." Elena reached into her cloak and pulled out a small leather journal. "This was Morgana's. She sent it to me for safekeeping weeks before she died. It contains everything she discovered about Daemon's network, everyone she suspected of being compromised. She couldn't give it to you directly because she was being watched, but she hoped that if anything happened to her, I would."
I took the journal, flipping through pages covered in Morgana's neat handwriting. Names, dates, observations, all meticulously documented. It was a roadmap to the conspiracy, evidence that could dismantle Daemon's carefully constructed network if used correctly.
"This is dangerous," I said. "If anyone knows we have this..."
"Then we're already in more danger than we were an hour ago," Kael finished. "Which means we act quickly. Captain Thorne." He raised his voice, knowing the guard was waiting outside. "Come in, please."
The captain entered, his hand on his sword hilt, clearly ready for trouble. He'd heard the commotion when Kael's shade manifested and had been prepared to intervene if necessary.
"Captain, this is Elena Silvermoon. She's going to need secure quarters and protection while she's here. Can you arrange that without alerting anyone who might be compromised?"
Captain Thorne studied Elena for a long moment, then nodded. "I have a few men I trust absolutely. I'll put her in the guards' quarters, in rooms we use for protected witnesses. No one will be able to reach her there without going through my people first."
"Good. And Captain? No one outside this room knows she's here. Not the King, not my brothers, no one. Until we know the full scope of who's compromised, we can't risk the information spreading."
"Understood, Your Highness." Captain Thorne gestured for Elena to follow him. "My Lady, if you'll come with me?"
After they left, I turned to Kael. "Are you really all right? That memory sharing looked like it nearly destroyed your control."
"I'm managing." He took the journal from me, skimming through Morgana's notes. "But you're right. I was close to losing it. If you hadn't anchored me, I don't know what would have happened."
"Then we don't take risks like that again unless absolutely necessary." I moved closer, taking his face in my hands and forcing him to look at me instead of the journal. "I know you need answers. I know you need justice for your mother. But I need you alive and whole, not consumed by your curse because you pushed yourself too far too fast."
Something shifted in his expression, softening. "When did you become so protective of me?"
"Probably around the time I realized I couldn't survive this without you. Partners, remember? That goes both ways." I kissed him quickly, before I could overthink it, before the fear and tension could overwhelm the connection we'd built. "Now, what does that journal tell us?"