CHAPTER 116: SIRA'S SECRET

CHAPTER 116: SIRA'S SECRET

POV: Kristine

Sira found me at dawn in the narrow garden.

Mist drifted low over the river beyond the wall, pale and cold beneath the weak morning light. Below us, the crocodiles floated just beneath the surface, their dark backs gliding through the water like living shadows. Nothing in this palace ever truly slept.

Sira crossed the strip of dirt slowly and stopped beside me without a word.

“You went out last night,” she said.

“Yes.”

“I reset the door lock before the morning guard rotation.” Her voice remained calm, but her eyes searched my face carefully. “You returned within the safe window.”

I tightened my grip on the wall. “Thank you.”

“Where did you go? ”

“The east tower.”

That finally made her still.

“Malda,” I continued. “And my son.”

For one brief second, something sharp flickered across her face.

Fear.

Not for herself.

For me.

“He’s alive,” I whispered. “Healthy. We’re moving tonight.”

Sira exhaled slowly. “Then we don’t have much time.”

A movement near the far archway caught my attention.

A young woman stood half-hidden behind one of the stone columns.

She carried a basket of wet linens against her hip, but she wasn’t moving.

Watching.

Watching us.

The girl quickly lowered her eyes when she noticed me staring.

Too quickly.

My body tensed instantly.

Sira noticed it too.

Without turning her head, she spoke quietly. “Don’t look at her again.”

“Who is she? ”I asked under my breath.

“One of the newer servants.”

“She’s listening.”

“Yes.”

The answer chilled me.

Sira folded her hands calmly in front of her dress as if we were discussing nothing important at all.

“Keep your voice steady,” she murmured.

The girl remained near the archway, pretending to rearrange the linens while her attention stayed fixed on us.

I suddenly understood why Sira survived this place for twelve years.

Every breath here was strategy.

“There is something I should have told you sooner,” Sira said, louder now.

I forced myself to remain calm.

She looked toward the river.

“I was not only a queen. My husband was a scholar-king. He valued knowledge more than conquest.”

The servant girl shifted slightly.

Listening harder.

“The Velari people kept records stretching back further than Zedrak’s bloodline. Forty thousand years of history.” Sira’s voice darkened. “Zedrak burned them when he conquered our kingdom.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I spent years being sorry,” she replied. “Now I prefer usefulness.”

The young servant glanced around nervously before looking back toward us.

My pulse quickened.

Why was she so interested?

Sira continued carefully. “The records were not entirely destroyed. I saved twenty-three documents before they imprisoned me. I memorized hundreds more.”

Her gaze finally met mine.

“Everything I know about the original prophecies lives here.” She touched her temple lightly.

The servant nearly dropped the basket.

That tiny reaction told me everything.

She understood exactly what Sira was saying.

And that was dangerous.

“I recognized you immediately,” Sira said softly. “The moment I saw you enter the banquet hall.”

I kept my breathing steady.

“A child of two worlds will carry the sword that ends the dark reign,” she continued.

The girl at the archway froze.

I felt cold move down my spine.

This conversation was no longer private.

Sira knew it too.

But strangely… she kept going.

“I have waited twelve years for you.”

The servant slowly lifted her eyes toward me.

There was no confusion in them.

Only calculation.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? ”I asked.

“Because destiny crushes weak people,” Sira answered. “I needed to know what kind of woman you were.”

“And now? ”

“You become stronger when the weight increases.”

The young woman finally moved.

One careful step backward.

Then another.

Not leaving.

Positioning herself closer to the corridor exit.

My instincts screamed.

“She’s going for the guards,” I whispered.

“No,” Sira said calmly. “Not yet.”

“How can you be sure? ”

“Because frightened people run immediately.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly toward the girl.

“That one is thinking first.”

The servant suddenly bowed her head and hurried away down the corridor.

My hand instantly went to the hidden blue stone inside my pocket.

“We should stop her.”

Sira grabbed my wrist before I could move.

“No.”

“What if she reports us? ”

“She probably will.”

My heart slammed hard against my ribs.

“And you’re letting her go? ”

Sira finally turned fully toward me.

“Kristine… if Zedrak already suspects you, then silence no longer protects you.”

The truth of that hit me hard.

Every second we delayed gave Zedrak more time.

More soldiers.

More traps.

More chances to take my son.

“There’s something else in the original texts,” Sira said.

I forced myself to focus.

“About your father.”

“Malda told me. Brodaxean.”

“Yes. But the prophecy speaks of more than bloodlines.”

Her voice lowered.

“The Brodaxean king and Tara were described as a matched pair. Their union was written into the future itself.”

I swallowed hard.

“And their child? ”

Sira’s gaze sharpened.

“Was never meant to become a weapon.”

“A bridge,” I whispered.

For the first time, genuine surprise crossed her face.

“You already know.”

“Malda told Eli.”

Sira nodded slowly.

“The prophecy says your son will reconnect the worlds Zedrak shattered. The knowledge he erased. The people he divided.”

She glanced toward the distant east tower.

“Your son will become something far more dangerous than a king.”

I thought of Kairu.

Of his tiny fingers gripping mine.

Of the terrible future already circling around him.

The blue stone grew warmer in my pocket.

“Tonight,” I said.

“Tonight,” Sira agreed.

Then she reached inside her dress.

For one alarming second, I thought someone had appeared behind me.

Instead, she pulled out a blade.

Dark-handled.

Thin.

Deadly.

Its edge caught the morning light.

“Your dagger is gone,” she said. “Take this.”

I accepted it carefully.

The weapon balanced perfectly in my hand.

Old.

Maintained.

Loved.

“One more thing,” Sira said.

Her expression changed.

Harder now.

Resolved.

“When Zedrak falls, someone must keep this palace from collapsing into chaos long enough for the women here to escape.”

“Sira—”

“That will be me.”

I stared at her.

“I’m not asking permission,” she continued. “I’m informing you of my decision.”

Her chin lifted slightly.

“Go kill the king. Bring your son home.”

A distant metallic sound suddenly echoed through the corridor.

Armor.

Both of us turned instantly.

Footsteps.

Coming closer.

Fast.

My pulse exploded.

The servant girl.

She had talked.

Sira stepped closer to me without panic.

“Listen carefully,” she whispered. “If they separate us, do not stop moving toward the east tower.”

The footsteps multiplied.

Several guards now.

Too many.

I tightened my grip on the dagger.

Sira looked directly into my eyes.

“Tonight decides everything.”

The armored footsteps stopped just beyond the garden entrance.

Silence.

Then a guard’s voice.

“Queen Sira.”

Sira’s face became unreadable again.

Perfectly calm.

Perfectly royal.

She leaned closer to me one final time.

“You have a king to kill.”