The smoke always returned at night.
Kaela felt it before she smelled it—an old, familiar sting at the back of her throat, as if the past had reached out with soot‑stained fingers to remind her it was still there. She tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade and forced her breathing steady. The training yard was empty at this hour, lit only by the pale glow of the twin moons, but she welcomed the solitude. Solitude didn't ask questions. Solitude didn't pity.
Her sword sliced through the air again, a clean arc, sharp enough to cut through memory if only memory were made of flesh.
One strike for every life lost.
That was the vow she made the night her village burned.
Her muscles trembled, but she didn't stop. Sweat dripped down her spine, mixing with the cold night air. She pushed harder, faster, until her lungs burned and her arms shook. Pain was grounding. Pain kept her from drowning in the images that haunted her—the flames, the screams, the silhouette of a man standing at the center of the destruction.
A prince with silver eyes.
A traitor.
Her target.
Her purpose.
A sudden clang echoed across the yard. Kaela froze, blade raised, senses sharpening. Footsteps approached—measured, unhurried. Only one person walked like that at this hour.
Commander Rhyden.
"Still awake," he said, stepping into the moonlight. His gaze swept over her stance, her trembling arms, the exhaustion she tried to hide. "You'll break yourself at this rate."
"I'm fine," Kaela replied, lowering her blade but not relaxing. She never relaxed. Not anymore.
Rhyden studied her for a long moment, then exhaled. "The council has issued a new assignment."
Assignments meant danger. She welcomed danger.
"What is it?"
"You're to escort a scholar to the borderlands," he said. "A quiet man. Keeps to himself. Claims he's researching the ruins near the Rift."
Kaela frowned. "Why me?"
"Because the roads have grown unsafe. Bandits. Creatures. And…" Rhyden hesitated, just for a breath. "Because you're the only one I trust to handle unexpected complications."
Her pulse quickened. Complications meant opportunity. Opportunity meant movement. Movement meant getting closer to the truth.
Closer to him.
"When do we leave?" she asked.
"Dawn."
Kaela nodded. Rhyden turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the yard.
"Kaela," he said quietly, "not every shadow you see belongs to the past."
She didn't answer. She couldn't.
Because in her mind, she still saw the same shadow every night—the prince who
destroyed her life.
And she didn't know that at dawn, she would meet him again.
Not as an enemy.
But as the man she was sworn to protect.