Chapter 141 Assassination Attempt
Elara's POV
I couldn't trust anyone.
The Void Empress's words echoed in my head. "One of them is someone you love. Someone close."
I looked at Drakon. Could it be him? No. Our mating bond would tell me. Wouldn't it?
"We need to identify the corrupted person," Thorne said. "Test everyone who was touched by the smoke."
"How?" Lily asked. "They'll act normal until activated."
Before anyone could answer, Mother stumbled.
"Mother!" I caught her.
Her eyes flashed red for just a second. Then back to normal.
"I'm fine," she said. "Just tired from the magic use."
But was she? Or was that the corruption showing through?
I hated this. Hated suspecting people I loved.
The ball ended quickly after that. Guests left, many looking scared. The unity we'd celebrated was already cracking under fear and suspicion.
"We'll reconvene tomorrow," Drakon announced. "After everyone rests."
That night, I couldn't sleep. Every shadow looked threatening. Every sound made me jump.
Drakon held me close. "We'll figure this out."
"What if it's you?" I whispered. "What if the Empress corrupted you and you don't even know?"
"Then you'll save me. Like always." He kissed my forehead. "I trust you completely."
I wished I could say the same. But doubt gnawed at me.
The next morning, we gathered the core council. Me, Drakon, Lily, Mother, Faye, Thorne, and Queen Thalassa. The people I trusted most.
One of them might be corrupted.
"We need a plan," I said, trying to sound normal. "The Void Empress is still out there. Morgana is frozen but not dead. And we have a traitor among the corrupted."
"I've been researching detection spells," Faye said. "There might be a way to identify void corruption in people."
"Might?" Thorne asked.
"It's ancient magic. Difficult. But possible."
"Then we try it," Drakon decided. "On all of us. Everyone who was touched by the smoke gets tested."
We agreed. Faye would need time to prepare the spell.
That afternoon, I walked the castle gardens alone, needing air.
A servant approached. "Your Majesty? A letter arrived for you."
I took it. No seal. No name. Just my title.
Inside, one line: "You should have died with your mother years ago."
I barely had time to process it before pain exploded in my shoulder.
An arrow. Buried deep.
I screamed and fell.
"ELARA!" Drakon's roar echoed across the gardens.
Another arrow whistled past my head. I rolled behind a statue.
Drakon appeared in dragon form, massive and furious. He breathed fire toward the source of the arrows.
A figure in black ran. Fast. Inhuman fast.
Thorne and guards converged. They chased the assassin through the gardens, but the figure was too quick.
Then Lily appeared. She raised her hands, and light barriers cut off escape routes.
The assassin was trapped.
They turned, pulling back their hood.
A woman. Young. With strange markings on her face I'd never seen before.
"Surrender!" Thorne commanded.
Instead, she bit down on something. A capsule in her mouth.
"Poison!" I yelled. "Stop her!"
Faye threw ice, freezing the woman's jaw shut before she could swallow.
The assassin struggled, but guards overwhelmed her.
We dragged her to the dungeon. The arrow in my shoulder throbbed, but healers assured me it wasn't poisoned. Just painful.
In the interrogation room, the assassin glared at us with hate.
"Who sent you?" Drakon demanded, still half-shifted with scales on his arms.
She spat at him.
"Answer the question," I said calmly, though my shoulder screamed. "Or we'll use magic to extract it."
"You can try," she sneered. "My mind is protected."
"By what?" Faye asked.
"By the True Human Kingdom. The last bastion of pure humanity." Her eyes gleamed with fanaticism. "You monsters and your abomination queen won't corrupt the world."
"True Human Kingdom?" I'd never heard of it.
"Far to the west. Beyond the mountains. We've kept ourselves pure for centuries. No magic. No mixing with creatures. Just humans as nature intended."
"And you want to kill me because...?" I pressed.
"Because you're spreading the disease. Unity. Integration. Corruption." She leaned forward. "You're making humans think it's okay to mix with monsters. To marry dragons. To have half-breed children."
Her words stung. She was talking about people I loved.
"We're not corrupting anyone," Drakon growled. "We're offering choice."
"Choice to destroy themselves!" The assassin's voice rose. "My kingdom sent me to eliminate you before your poison spreads further. And I'm not alone."
My blood chilled. "What do you mean?"
"Others are coming. An entire coalition of pure human kingdoms. We've been watching you. Gathering allies. Building armies." She smiled cruelly. "In six months, we attack. We'll burn your precious unity to ash. Drive the monsters back to their caves. And restore proper human rule."
"You're insane," Lily breathed.
"I'm righteous." The assassin looked at each of us. "You'll see. Humans aren't meant to love monsters. The natural order will be restored."
Guards dragged her away to a secure cell.
We sat in stunned silence.
"A coalition against us," Thorne said finally. "Pure human kingdoms."
"We knew some would resist unity," Drakon said. "But an organized military coalition..."
"Changes everything," I finished. "We have six months to prepare."
"Or to prevent it," Faye suggested. "Maybe we can negotiate. Show them unity works."
"They just tried to assassinate Elara," Thorne said flatly. "Negotiation seems unlikely."
"We still try," I insisted. "We always try peace first."
That evening, we sent diplomatic messages west. Requesting dialogue. Offering to demonstrate our peaceful intentions.
We received one response.
A box.
Inside, the heads of our messengers.
And a note: "This is mercy. When our armies come, there will be none."
I stared at the box, horror and grief mixing.
"They killed our people for trying to talk," Lily whispered.
Drakon pulled me away from the box. "We prepare for war. We have no choice."
"But we also have the void threat," Mother reminded us. "And a traitor in our midst. How do we fight on three fronts?"
She was right. The Void Empress. The corrupted traitor. And now a human coalition.
We were surrounded by enemies.
"Together," I said firmly. "We face it all together. Like we always have."
We spent the next hours planning. Defense strategies. Alliance requests. Preparation timelines.
Then Faye burst in, face pale.
"I finished the detection spell," she gasped. "I tested everyone who was touched by the void smoke."
"And?" Drakon demanded.
"The corrupted person isn't in the group we tested."
"What? But the Empress said..."
"She lied. Or misdirected us." Faye's hands shook. "The corrupted person was never touched by the smoke at the ball. They were corrupted earlier. Weeks ago. Maybe months."
Ice filled my veins. "So anyone could be the traitor."
"Anyone who's been exposed to void energy since this all started." Faye pulled out a list. "Which is... almost everyone in the castle."
The room spun. We'd been looking in the wrong place.
The traitor could be anyone. Guards. Servants. Advisors. Friends.
"We need to test everyone," Thorne said. "The entire castle."
"That'll take days," Drakon protested. "And meanwhile the traitor knows we're looking."
As if summoned by our words, an explosion rocked the castle.
We ran to the windows.
The western tower was on fire. Collapsing.
"That's the archive!" Mother screamed. "All our ancient texts! The sealing ritual instructions!"
We raced toward the tower, but it was too late. The structure crumbled completely.
In the rubble, I found a note.
"You'll never seal the Void now. And you'll never find me. I'm closer than you think. -Your Loving Traitor"
I looked at everyone around me. Drakon. Lily. Mother. Faye. Thorne
One of them wrote this note.
One of them was trying to destroy us from within.
And I had no idea which one.