Chapter 31 -Caylix-
\-Caylix-
The palace descends into controlled chaos.
Guards move through the corridors in heavy formations while servants, maids, cooks, stable hands, and attendants are pulled from their quarters and gathered into the lower eastern hall beneath armed watch. Fear spreads quickly despite the silence surrounding the search. No one has been told what they are looking for. Only that the king ordered everyone assembled immediately.
Rain lashes against the palace windows while I walk beside Alexander through the crowded hall. Torches flicker against stone walls, throwing shadows across frightened faces. Dozens of servants stand crowded tightly beneath armed guard, fear rippling visibly through the hall. Some are half dressed from sleep. Others are visibly shaking. Alexander says nothing as we move past the line slowly.
But I feel his magic working.
Truth magic moves differently than anything else I have ever sensed. It does not strike or force. It presses, quietly slipping beneath words and expressions and heartbeats. Searching, measuring, watching for deception. A maid flinches as Alexander pauses briefly in front of her.
“Your name,” Alexander says calmly.
“L-Lina, Your Majesty.”
“Where were you tonight?”
The maid hesitates, but only for a second, and Alexander notices immediately.
“In the servant quarters beside the west kitchens,” she says quickly.
I feel the exact moment Alexander’s truth magic catches against the lie. His expression does not change.
“Do not lie to me.”
The girl’s face drains of color instantly.
“I…” Her breathing shakes violently now. “I was with Prince Rhydon.”
The maid stumbles over the words in panic. “He…He asked for wine and I brought it to his chambers and…he…we…”
Alexander’s magic settles again. Truth. He moves on without another word. But rage coils hard beneath my ribs anyway because Avianna is expected to stand beside Rhydon before both kingdoms in a matter of weeks.
And he cannot even offer her the dignity of restraint inside her own home.
I continue scanning the room while we move, searching for that same crawling sensation beneath my skin. Dark magic leaves behind a feeling I cannot fully describe, wrong in a way instinct recognizes before thought ever can.
But the feeling never returns. By the time we finish the final row of servants, frustration has tightened every muscle in my body.
Nothing.
Alexander steps away from the gathered crowd slowly. His expression has gone colder with every passing minute.
“Well?” I ask quietly.
“Nothing,” he says grimly. “Either they know nothing…” His jaw tightens. “Or whoever entered this palace is powerful enough to hide from truth-magic itself.”
The captain of the royal guard approaches quickly. “Your Majesty. The lower halls and servant passages have been cleared. No sign of intrusion.”
Alexander nods once. “Double the corridor watch tonight. No one moves alone. I want armed guards stationed outside every royal chamber.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The captain disappears immediately.
Alexander looks toward me. “Walk with me.”
The palace corridors feel different now. Every guard we pass stands straighter. Every servant lowers their gaze immediately. But beneath all of it, I feel something worse spreading through the palace. Fear. Alexander remains silent until we reach his study. Agameus is already waiting beside the fire when we enter, ancient books spread across the table around him.
The old scholar looks up immediately. “Well?”
Alexander removes his gloves slowly. “Nothing.”
Agameus exhales heavily. “Gods.”
I move toward the windows automatically, scanning the darkness beyond the glass while rain streaks down the panes.
“It was here,” I say quietly. “Inside the upper corridors and then it just…vanished.”
Silence settles heavily across the chamber.
Then Alexander speaks. “Explain something to me.” His voice hardens. “How does dark magic exist outside the dark realm at all?”
Agameus goes still.
Alexander steps farther into the room now, frustration and unease tightening his expression. “The seal held after the Great War. The realm was closed.” His eyes narrow sharply. “So how was one missed?”
The elder says nothing immediately. That alone unsettles me. Alexander notices too.
“How,” he repeats more sharply, “has something survived outside the realm for this long without detection?”
The fire crackles between them.
Finally, Agameus speaks quietly. “Because the war was chaos.”
The room stills. The old scholar moves slowly toward the table, resting one hand against his rune etched staff.
“In the final years, cities burned faster than they could be evacuated. Families disappeared. Records were destroyed.” His expression darkens. “If something wanted to survive the sealing of the dark realm, confusion would have been its greatest advantage.”
Alexander’s expression hardens. “That still does not explain how something like this survived truth magic, rune magic, and royal detection for decades.”
“No,” Agameus agrees grimly. “It doesn’t.”
Lightning flashes across the chamber. Then slowly, the elder’s face changes. A knock sounds against the chamber doors before anyone can speak.
Alexander’s gaze snaps toward them instantly. “Enter.”
The doors open. King Erik steps inside already dressed, dark cloak thrown hastily over his shoulders like he came the second the message reached him. His gaze moves quickly across the room before settling on Alexander.
“I felt something tonight,” he says immediately. “Something is wrong.”
Erik steps into the chamber slowly, rainwater still clinging to the edges of his cloak. “I thought perhaps it was the storm at first.” His expression hardens. “Then it kept getting worse.”
A cold feeling crawls slowly down my spine.
Erik’s eyes narrow sharply now. “What’s going on?”
Alexander does not soften the truth.
“Dark magic entered the palace tonight.”
Erik goes completely still. “What?”
“It reached the upper royal corridors,” Alexander says grimly. “Caylix sensed it first. We locked the palace down immediately.”
Erik’s gaze focuses on me. “How?”
He is studying me too closely already so I give him part of the truth.
“I can sense these things.”
Something unreadable flickers briefly across Erik’s face. Then his attention shifts back toward Agameus.
“What were you about to say?” Erik asks quietly.
The elder looks deeply unsettled now. Finally, he speaks.
“It would have needed to be hidden before the realm was sealed,” he says quietly. “Before the darkness fully awakened inside it.”
Silence crashes into the room.
Alexander stares at him. “Explain.”
“A fully awakened dark creature would never survive outside the realm after the war. The wards would feel it. Truth magic would detect it. Rune magic would react.” His expression pales. “But a child…”
No one moves. Agameus’s voice lowers further.
“A baby would be different.”
Erik’s face darkens immediately. “You think one was hidden away before the realm closed.”
Agameus nods once grimly. “Young enough that the darkness inside them had not fully formed yet.”
Alexander folds his arms tightly. “And once it grew?”
“That,” Agameus says quietly, “is the part we do not understand.”
Silence follows.
“Dark magic should still have revealed itself eventually,” the elder continues. “Truth magic should have sensed corruption. Rune magic should have reacted to its presence.” His brow furrows deeply. “Yet somehow it survived unnoticed.”
“Meaning?” Erik asks grimly.
Agameus looks toward the storm beyond the windows.
“Meaning whatever this is…” His voice lowers carefully. “It has learned how to hide among us.”