Chapter 10 MEETING AT MIDNIGHT

Chapter 10 MEETING AT MIDNIGHT
ETHAN’S POV
“The plan is suicide,” I said flatly.
Kiera spread a hand-drawn map across the cave floor. “Maybe. But it’s the only chance we have.”
We were hidden behind a waterfall, half a mile from the old mill. After nearly being caught by a Silver Covenant search party, Kiera had insisted we move. This place was impossible to find unless you knew exactly where to look.
“Walk me through it again,” I said.
“The facility is built into Shadowpeak Mountain. One entrance a narrow pass guarded by at least twenty Silver Covenant soldiers.” She tapped the map. “Three levels. Thorne is on the lowest, in a maximum-security cell.”
“How do you know all this?”
“My spy inside. Clara. A human servant. She’s been feeding us information for two weeks.” Kiera traced a path. “There’s a servants’ entrance on the eastern side. Less guarded. That’s our way in.”
“Our way in is pretending to be servants?”
“Supplies,” she corrected, producing forged papers. “A wagon arrives in two days. You drive. I hide in the cargo.”
“And once we’re inside?”
“Clara creates a distraction—a kitchen fire. We reach Thorne, free him, and escape through a drainage tunnel to the river.”
I stared at her. “That’s it? Hope the guards are distracted?”
“You have a better idea?”
I didn’t.
“What about weapons?”
“They’ll search the wagon. We can’t bring any.” She showed me two small vials. “Acidic compounds. Quiet. Burns through metal.”
“And fighting?”
“We avoid it. Speed and stealth.” Her eyes hardened. “This isn’t a heroic battle, Ethan. If we’re spotted before we reach Thorne, we fail. If we’re spotted before we escape, we die.”
The weight of it settled in my chest. This wasn’t investigation anymore. It was treason.
“You’re hesitating,” Kiera said.
“I’m thinking.”
“About whether you have the courage?”
“About consequences,” I snapped. “You’re asking me to betray my oaths. My people.”
“Your people are dying for a lie,” she shot back. “Your leaders are manipulating you. Duty to truth matters more than blind obedience.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Is it?” Her voice turned bitter. “Orcs call me a traitor for trusting a human. I’m risking everything too. Maybe more.”
Silence stretched between us, broken only by the waterfall.
“Tell me about Thorne,” I said.
Her expression softened. “Thorne Ironfang is my second-in-command. My oldest friend. He believes peace is possible. When our diplomats were murdered and everyone wanted war, Thorne investigated instead.”
“And what did he find?”
“Letters. Financial records. Witnesses who saw Silver Covenant soldiers burning villages.” Her eyes burned. “He was going to take everything straight to your king.”
“That’s why they captured him.”
“And why they’ll execute him,” she said. “As long as he lives, he’s a threat to Lady Seraphina.”
Father’s warning echoed in my mind: There are forces powerful enough to burn villages and blame others.
“What happens after we rescue him?” I asked.
“We go to the capital. To Princess Elena.”
“You trust her?”
“She contacted us first,” Kiera said. “She suspects corruption within her own government. She’s been investigating the Covenant from inside the palace.”
The king’s daughter. If that was true, this conspiracy reached higher than I’d imagined.
“How do we reach her?”
“She has safe houses. Once Thorne is free, she’ll protect us until the evidence reaches the king.”
“And you trust her?”
“I trust that she wants this war to end.” Kiera rolled up the map. “She lost her mother to political assassins. She knows what corruption costs.”
“I need time,” I said.
“You have until tomorrow night. Sunset. Old stone bridge, three miles north.” She stood. “Come alone. If I sense a trap, you never see me again.”
“And if I don’t come?”
“Then I go alone. I probably die. And the war continues.” She paused. “At least you’ll have followed orders like a good soldier.”
“That’s not fair.”
“My people are being slaughtered. Yours are being used. Where’s the fairness in that?”
She vanished through the waterfall, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I returned to camp before dawn, keeping to the trees. The camp was quiet—but Marcus stood by the fire pit, watching me. He said nothing. Just watched.
He knew.
Sleep wouldn’t come. By morning, I’d made my decision.
I spent the day pretending everything was normal—drills, meals, jokes. Knowing it might be the last normal day of my life.
James cornered me after lunch. “You look terrible. Something happened last night.”
I told him everything.
“That’s insane,” he said when I finished. “You’ll be executed.”
“And if I don’t do it, the war continues. The Covenant wins.”
He went quiet. “Once you cross this line, there’s no coming back.”
“I know.”
“Do Sarah and I need to know anything?”
“No. The less you know, the safer you are.”
That evening, I wrote Marcus a letter. My hands shook.
Marcus,
By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. The war is a lie. Our own military burned those villages. I’m helping rescue someone with proof that can’t be ignored.
I’m doing what Father taught us—asking questions and acting on the answers.
If I don’t return, tell him I tried to do the right thing. Tell Lily I love her.
Thank you for being my brother.
—Ethan
I left it in my bedroll.
At sunset, I packed light—journal, badge, water, sword—and slipped away.
The stone bridge appeared as the sun dipped low. Kiera waited, her red hair catching the light.
“You came,” she said.
“I said I would.”
“Ready to change your life forever?”
“No. But I’m doing it anyway.”
She smiled. “Then let’s save my friend—and your kingdom.”
As we turned north, I saw Marcus at the forest’s edge. Shock. Hurt. Betrayal.
I raised my hand. He shook his head and walked away.
My heart broke.
“He saw us,” Kiera said.
“I know.”
“Will he report you?”
“I don’t know.” I took a breath. “But it doesn’t matter now.”
We walked into the dark, leaving everything behind.
Ahead lay danger, treason, and possible death—but
also the truth.
And I was going to help set it free.
Even if it cost me everything.