Chapter 42: Baiting the Traitors

\- Maximus’ POV -

Eryndor. If anyone could turn these fragments into a net, it was him.

I stepped into the library Eryndor with a thin braid of silver thread in his hair that caught the lamp light. He looked up from a pile of rolled maps as if he had been waiting only for me. Perhaps he had. He folded one map and put a thin ruler across the page.

“Eryndor,” I said. “I need your counsel.”

He nodded and set the ruler aside. “Prince Maximus, please sit down.”

I did not sit long. I gave him the bundle Caspian had delivered, the papers, the burned names, the scrap of cloth. Eryndor’s fingers trembled only a little as he turned each page. He read with the patience of a man who had memorized every footnote of the world.

“This crest,” he said finally, touching the cloth with his forefinger, “I know this. It is a sigil used by a trader house that has been a shadow in border deals. Not many servants would carry such a thing. If Rowan kept it, he kept contact.”

“He kept letters in a hollow under his floor,” I said. “Sealed pouches. There are three notes with his mark."

Eryndor closed his eyes for a breath. “You suspect treason.”

“I have proof,” I said. “But I cannot expose him yet. If I strike now, the traitor’s web will tangle. The enemies will use that chaos and we will lose more than we gain. Vampires' attack tonight is a good chance.”

Eryndor met my gaze then. The soft scholar’s face became a priest’s steel. “So you mean to use tonight’s attack as cover. Use the battle to flush out anyone who stands with him,"

“Exactly.” I lowered my voice. “Vampires are expected at the borders. If the menservants are at the front lines, the same men who serve in the palace will be there when the battle begins. Those who conspire will likely move. They will talk, pass messages, try to hide. In the confusion, we can identify them by what they carry, by the marks on their notes, and by where they move.”

He smirked, "As expected from your greatness, Your Highness. However, you risk the lives of the menservants.”

“They are already risking their lives,” I said. “I am not sending them to slaughter. I will put men to watch and control the lines. I will order Caspian and a group of shadow guards to ride with the servants as their overseers. We will arm the servants as you ordered, but the guards will be placed so they can see who moves where. Those guards will be trusted to act only on my signal.”

“You will not give sanctuary to priests?” Eryndor asked softly.

“No exceptions,” I said. “If a priest stands with Rowan, he stands against the kingdom... I'll send them to hell.”

Eryndor’s eyes flicked to mine. He then bowed his head and closed his fingers on the papers. “I will do it, Prince Maximus. I will stand with you. But you must be ready.”

I am always ready, because I have to.

But when Eryndor looked up, his eyes didn't meet mine but someone else's behind me. "Lyra," he said calling the person behind me.

It was as if a bucket of water was splashed into me that just her name I stood frozen on my spot.

"I-I'm sorry for the interruption, I shouldn't have come here." She said which made me turned to look behind me.

There, I saw Lyra bowing her head apologetically at the tall library arch.

Suddenly, I felt like the room’s air changed in a single, quiet beat, my chest tighten as if someone had closed my ribs with a hand. Damn it.

Eryndor’s calm faltered for a moment. He glanced from Lyra to me. He had seen that look before. He could mark how a man’s heart measured a woman with a single glance. He kept his eyes on me and then back to Lyra as if to refocus. "Rise Lyra, It's okay, is there something I can help you with?"

Lyra stood straight as she looked up, her eyes found mine and for a second they held questions that she could not speak. Even I lost words.

Eryndor gave me a small, knowing look. It was not rude, he must have heard my breath quicken. He saw the way my hands tightened.

“I should go,” I said suddenly. My voice came out rough. I did not want to stand there and be undone in front of the library. I had to keep the plan solid. I could not let a memory of a kiss spill the order from my mouth.

Lyra’s face changed then. Hurt slid through it like a cold wind. She opened her mouth. I could have stopped and held her hand but I did not. I had no right to let softness save me.

“I am needed at the gates,” I said and moved past the shelves to the door. My steps were measured. I kept my spine straight. I kept my face hard. But inside me, the ache wanted to pull me back to her, to hold her in and explain everything... and to tell her I needed her especially in times like this.

Still, I forced my feet to walk out.

Eryndor watched me leave. He did not call after me. He did not need to. The plan would go on whether I stayed or not.

When I stepped out, I heard Lyra’s quick intake of breath behind me. I felt the sliver of something like regret, and I carried it with me as I walked away.

I closed the door of the library with a plan in my head and a memory of her near my skin.