[Sera's POV]
Mordain made me kill the dog.
That's what he demanded as proof of my loyalty. A hunting dog—old, gray-muzzled, with kind brown eyes that looked at me like I might save it instead of ending its life.
"It's just an animal," Mordain had said, watching me with those dead eyes. "If you can't kill a dog, how will you kill a prince?"
My hands shook as I held the blade. The dog's tail wagged once. Twice. It trusted me.
I killed it anyway.
Now, sitting in the carriage that rattled toward Luminara, I couldn't stop seeing those brown eyes. Couldn't stop feeling the warmth of its blood on my hands. I'd scrubbed my skin raw, but I still felt dirty.
"You're thinking too much." Lyris sat across from me, examining her nails. "It was just a dog."
"It was a test," I said quietly.
"And you passed. Mordain let you live." She looked up, her ice-blue eyes glittering. "Though I heard you cried after. How pathetic."
I didn't respond. Let her think what she wanted. The truth was worse than tears—I'd felt nothing while killing the dog. My hands moved on their own, efficient and quick. The weapon Mordain created had worked perfectly.
That's what scared me most.
The carriage hit a bump, and I grabbed the window frame. Through the gap in the curtain, I caught my first glimpse of the world outside Shadowveil's mountains.
And froze.
Color. Everywhere. Green fields rolled past like waves. Flowers bloomed in shades I didn't have names for. The sky was so blue it hurt to look at. In eighteen years, I'd never seen anything but gray stone and dark corridors.
This world was alive.
"First time outside?" Lyris asked with a smirk.
"Shut up."
But she was right, and we both knew it. Shadowveil had been my entire existence. A prison I didn't know I was in until now.
The carriage rolled on, and the landscape changed. We passed villages where children played in the streets. Actual children—laughing, running, faces bright with joy instead of fear. I watched a mother hug her daughter. Watched a father lift his son onto his shoulders.
I'd never been hugged. Never been lifted. Never been called anything but "weapon" or "tool" or "girl."
Something twisted in my chest.
"Stop looking at them like that," Lyris snapped. "You're not one of them. You never will be. We're different. Better. We don't need their soft, pathetic lives."
"Right," I whispered. But I couldn't look away.
By late afternoon, Luminara's capital city appeared on the horizon. My breath caught.
It was nothing like I'd imagined.
The city sparkled like a jewel—white buildings with colorful banners, wide streets filled with people, and at the center, a palace that looked like it was made of light itself. Music drifted on the wind. Laughter. Life.
We entered through the crowded gates, and I pressed my face to the carriage window. People were everywhere—merchants selling flowers, children chasing each other, couples holding hands. Everyone seemed... happy.
I didn't understand it.
"The Name Day celebration started this morning," Marcus called from the driver's seat. "The whole city's celebrating their prince's nineteenth birthday. You picked a good day for infiltration—too many people for tight security."
The carriage stopped in a quieter district. Marcus opened the door and handed me a small bag. "Your supplies. Money, fake identification papers, maps. There's an abandoned warehouse near the palace—third street, blue door. Hide there until tonight."
"What about me?" Lyris demanded.
"Separate hiding spot. You'll reunite after the mission." Marcus's tone said this wasn't negotiable. "If you're both caught, Shadowveil loses everything. This way, if one fails, the other can complete the contract."
Lyris looked furious but nodded.
I took the bag and slipped out of the carriage. The moment my feet hit the cobblestones, the noise hit me—music and voices and laughter mixing into something overwhelming. People brushed past me, smiling, talking, living.
No one looked at me with fear. No one recognized the weapon in their midst.
I pulled my hood up and disappeared into the crowd.
Finding the warehouse was easy. Staying inside was torture.
Through a broken window, I watched Luminara celebrate. The city transformed as evening fell—lanterns lit up like stars, music grew louder, and people flooded toward the palace square. I could hear them chanting something.
Curiosity pulled me toward the window. Just a quick look. Just to understand the target better.
That's what I told myself.
I climbed to the warehouse roof and crouched in the shadows. From here, I had a perfect view of the palace balcony. Hundreds—no, thousands—of people filled the square below, all facing the palace. All waiting.
"KAEL! KAEL! KAEL!"
They were chanting his name. My brother's name.
The balcony doors opened.
My heart stopped.
Prince Kael Luminaris stepped into view, and the crowd erupted. Their cheers shook the air. But I barely heard them. I was staring at his face.
It was like looking into a mirror that showed me who I could have been.
He had my platinum hair, though his was longer and caught the lantern light like silver fire. My storm-gray eyes, though his shone with warmth I'd never known. My face, my features—everything the same but different. He smiled, and it was genuine. Real. The kind of smile I'd never learned to make.
He was everything I wasn't. Light where I was shadow. Loved where I was feared. Free where I was chained.
"People of Luminara!" His voice carried across the square, strong and clear. "Thank you for celebrating with me tonight. But this isn't my day—it's ours. Together, we're building something that has never existed before. A nation where your magic doesn't determine your worth. Where orphans aren't slaves. Where everyone has a voice."
The crowd roared approval.
"The Continental Council says we're dangerous," Kael continued. "They say giving power to everyone will destroy the old order. And you know what? They're right. We are destroying their order. Because their order was built on suffering. On crushing anyone who didn't fit their perfect mold." His eyes blazed with passion. "But we're replacing it with something better. With justice. With hope. With a future where children don't have to be afraid."
Children don't have to be afraid.
The words hit me like a physical blow. I thought of Thomas—nine years old and already learning that feelings meant death. I thought of all the orphans in Shadowveil, being molded into weapons.
I thought of the dog's brown eyes.
"I know some of you lost everything to join Luminara," Kael said, his voice softer now. "Lost families, homes, safety. You risked it all because you believed things could be different. I promise you—I will spend every day of my life proving your faith wasn't misplaced. I will protect this dream we're building. Even if it costs me everything."
The crowd cheered again, but I felt cold.
He was willing to die for them. For this dream of a better world.
And I was here to kill him.
My birthmark burned. I pressed my hand against it, and warmth flooded through me—that strange connection, stronger now that I was close to him. Like a thread pulling me toward the palace. Toward my brother.
Kael's eyes suddenly swept across the rooftops, and for one impossible moment, they locked with mine.
He couldn't see me. I was hidden in shadow, too far away. But his expression changed—confusion, then recognition, then something that looked like hope.
His hand moved to his own shoulder. To his birthmark.
He felt it too. The connection. The bond.
He knew I was here.
Panic shot through me. I dissolved into shadows and fled across the rooftops, my heart hammering. That was impossible. We were hundreds of feet apart. He shouldn't have been able to sense me.
Unless the bond was stronger than anyone realized.
I made it back to the warehouse and collapsed against the wall, gasping. My birthmark still burned, pulsing in rhythm with something I couldn't see. With someone else's heartbeat.
My brother's heartbeat.
A scraping sound made me spin around.
A figure stood in the warehouse doorway, backlit by lanterns from the street. Too tall to be Lyris. Too broad to be Marcus.
"I've been looking for you all day," a deep voice said. The figure stepped inside, and lantern light revealed a man with dark hair, amber eyes, and a warrior's build. He wore the uniform of Luminara's Royal Guard. A sword hung at his hip, hand resting on the pommel.
Lord Davrin. Kael's right-hand commander. I recognized him from the mission briefing.
"The prince felt someone watching him," Davrin continued, moving closer. "Someone with a magical signature that matched his own. That's impossible, of course. Unless..." His amber eyes studied my face, and I saw the exact moment he understood. "Unless his twin sister is real. Unless she's here. Unless she's you."
I reached for my blade, but he was faster. His sword was drawn and pointing at my throat before I could blink.
"Don't move," he commanded. "I'm taking you to Prince Kael. He's been searching for you his whole life." His expression softened slightly. "He's been dreaming about you. Did you know that? Every night since he was a child. Dreams of a silver-haired girl calling his name."
I had those same dreams. Of a boy who looked like me.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said.
"Then I'll knock you unconscious and carry you. Your choice." His sword didn't waver. "But one way or another, you're meeting your brother tonight. He deserves to know you're alive. That you're real."
My mind raced. If I went with him, the mission failed. Mordain would kill me. But if I fought, this warrior would raise the alarm. Either way, I was trapped.
"Why does it matter?" I asked, stalling. "Why does he care about some sister he's never met?"
Davrin's expression turned sad. "Because he's been alone his whole life. Because finding you would mean he finally has family. Because..." He paused. "Because when he talks about you in his sleep, he sounds like a child again. Lost and hoping someone will find him."
Something cracked in my chest.
I couldn't do this. Couldn't meet him. Couldn't look into eyes that matched mine and then drive a blade through his heart.
But I couldn't kill Davrin either. He was just protecting someone he loved.
My shadow magic stirred, ready to help me escape. But before I could use it, Davrin spoke again.
"He's coming here. Right now. The moment he felt your presence, he left the celebration. He's probably two minutes away."
My blood turned to ice.
"You're lying."
"I'm not." Davrin stepped aside, gesturing to the door. "Leave if you want. Run. But he'll find you anyway. The bond won't let you hide from each other anymore."
Footsteps echoed in the alley outside. Quick. Urgent. Getting closer.
My brother was coming.
And I had to decide: face him as his sister, or kill him as his assassin.