Chapter 94: Chapter Ninety Four - Plans

Kael's Pov

Rendall’s brow furrowed slightly at my words. “You’ll be accompanying her yourself?”

“Yes.” The word came out sharper than I intended but I didn't blink it back.

“You’ll take Mira with you,” I continued, my tone calmer now. “You’ll both handle whatever politics or ceremonies they need to make it official.”

They both shifted behind my but didn't say anything. “The plan is to meet with the Lycan King first, seek permission to move through their lands and conduct our business.”

The general exchanged a look with Rendall, then nodded slowly. “And the raids? What will we say about them?”

“They’ll happen the moment the signal is given,” I said, turning my head slightly to the general. “You’ll lead from the border. I want the first strikes done before dawn, no warnings, no survivors among those who ran the trade.”

I looked forward, my hands still locked together behind me, my gaze cold. “In my eyes, they are all guilty. And I will see to it that they all face punishment, or certain death.”

I heard his jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. He almost never did.

Rendall, though, he always had that flicker in his eyes, that uncertainty. The kind that said he wanted to speak, but was weighing the cost of doing so.

He stepped forward slightly. “My lord… forgive the question, but if the Lady is present during these operations, are you certain it’s wise? She’s endured enough already.”

I turned my head towards him, my voice firm. “And that’s exactly why she should be there. I want her to see the faces of those who made her go through the worst of it. To look them in the eye before they burn.”

The words came out harder than I meant them to. But I didn’t take them back.

Rendall just nodded once, understanding the tone. He didn’t agree, but he didn’t push it either.

“Very well,” he said. “We’ll be ready when you give the word.”

The general bowed low. “As will I, my King.”

I nodded, dismissing them with a wave of my hand. They left quickly, their footsteps fading down the hall until the silence crept back in.

For a while, I stayed there, just listening, to the faint drip of water, the low hum of torches, the occasional clank of a chain deep inside the prison.

Part of me wanted to leave it all there, the memories, the anger, the betrayal. But another part of me, the one that had ruled for years, couldn’t let it go. Not when my pride had been touched.

Because weakness, had cost me too much over the years.

The kingdom. My people.

My family.

And now, even with Sky… I could feel that same pull, that same fear of losing control again.

I glanced at the guards, my voice cold enough to freeze hell over as quietly as possible. “Open the door.”

They hesitated, then obeyed. The hinges creaked as the heavy door groaned open, the smell of damp stone and sweat spilling out.

“Bring a torch,” I ordered. “And one of you, follow me.”

The younger of the two grabbed a torch from the wall and stepped in behind me. The light flickered over the narrow corridor as we walked deeper into the prison.

The air grew colder, thicker, as the cries of men echoed faintly from somewhere far inside.

Their voices were muffled, broken things. I didn’t feel pity, not really. But I did feel something. A strange kind of stillness in my chest.

I reached the final cell, the one at the end of the hall. The flickering light fell across the bars, revealing faces I once trusted. Men who used to bow at my word.

One of them looked up, his eyes wide, skin pale under the torchlight.

“Your Majesty…” he rasped. “Please. We— we thought—”

“You thought wrong,” I said flatly.

He reached out, grabbing the bars, his fingers trembling. “We only wanted to protect the realm. The vampires, they were getting stronger. We couldn’t risk losing everything.”

“You lost it the moment you forgot who your king was,” I cut in, and the silence that followed was thick enough to choke on.

I could see their fear now, not just fear of me, but fear of themselves, of what they’d become.

I leaned closer to the bars.

“You’ll live,” I said. “For now. But when this war is over, when the blood has settled, I’ll decide what to do with you. Until then, think carefully about the kind of men you want to be remembered as.”

I turned to leave, the guard’s torchlight stretching my shadow long behind me.

As I walked back toward the door, the heavy air clung to my lungs, and I realized something bitter, it wasn’t the poison that had been killing me all these years.

It was trust.

Trust in people who only bowed when they feared you, who only followed when they needed you.

That would never happen again.

By the time I reached the outer gate, the moon had climbed high, painting the courtyard silver. The guards stood straighter when I passed, their hands pressed to their chests in salute.

“Keep them alive,” I said, not breaking stride.

“Yes, my King,” one of them answered.

Outside, the wind was cold, and sharp, cutting through my thoughts like a blade. I dragged in one last breath and exhaled slow.

Tomorrow, I’d meet with the Lycans.

Tomorrow, I’d start putting things back in order.

“And if the gods were listening,” I muttered under my breath. “I’d make sure no one ever saw me as weak again.”