Chapter 41: A Message from the Shadows
Arya’s POV
The palace kitchens were already alive with chaos when I arrived — pots clanging, cooks shouting over each other, and the smell of roasted herbs filling the air. It used to comfort me. Now it just reminded me of how far I’d fallen.
From being a warrior to being a servant.
I balanced a tray of breakfast dishes, careful not to drop anything. The head cook, Irene, eyed me like a hawk, waiting for the tiniest mistake.
“Move faster, girl,” she snapped. “You’re slower than a pup with a limp.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and kept working. No point arguing — not when everyone here believed I deserved this.
As I stepped outside to deliver food to the guards on morning patrol, a shadow swept across the courtyard. I looked up.
A raven circled once, then twice before diving down. It landed on the railing right in front of me. My breath stalled. A small white ribbon was tied to its leg — I knew that marking. It was Rodrick.
My pulse thundered as I quickly untied it, pretending to shoo the bird away. I hid the rolled paper inside my sleeve and continued walking like nothing happened. But inside, panic and adrenaline twisted together.
I didn’t dare look at the message until I found a quiet corner behind the east greenhouse. With shaking hands, I unrolled the paper.
Only a few sentences were written, coded, sharp:
“ The palace holds teeth beneath its stone. Doors only royals know. Find them, map them, or we fall. —R”
There was no name, no signature. Just a single letter. I pressed the paper to my chest for a moment. Fear flickered through me. Searching for hidden tunnels was asking for death if I got caught.
But Rodrick saved me once. He believed I had a purpose. Even if I barely recognized myself anymore.
I heard footsteps approaching. I shoved the note into my boot and sprang to my feet. It was Kyle. He walked up with that intense, sharp gaze that always made my heart betray me.
“You’re hiding again,” he said softly.
“I’m working,” I muttered, staring at the ground.
“That’s not what I meant.” He stepped closer. “Arya… talk to me.”
I swallowed hard. If he looked too close, he’d notice everything I was trying to bury.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
“You’re not.” He reached for my hand, then stopped himself, his fingers curling into a fist instead. “The council is still debating Crescent Fang’s demands. My mother wants you dismissed from the palace. The elders want you punished.”
I stiffened. “For what? For being humiliated during that performance?”
“For existing.” He said it with so much frustration his voice cracked. “They want to hurt you because they know I—”
He cut himself off. My heart skipped.
“They know you… care?” I offered.
His jaw tightened. “More than I should.”
Those four words hit me harder than any blade. But before either of us could say another reckless thing, Ezra’s voice cut through the morning air:
“Alpha! The Queen is looking for you.”
Kyle shut his eyes briefly like he was trying to hold onto the moment, then stepped back.
“I’ll find you later,” he promised.
Then he was gone. Ezra walked past me, smirking. “Careful, Arya. People are starting to ask why he keeps chasing after nobody.”
My fists clenched, but I forced myself to stay calm. Ezra wanted a reaction. He always did. Instead, I turned away.
He grabbed my arm suddenly, grip bruising. “Sooner or later, you’ll be thrown out like the worthless rogue you are.”
I met his gaze without blinking. “Let go.”
His eyes flashed — cruel, hungry — but he released me with a scoff. I walked away, forcing each step to stay steady.
My next duty took me to the royal library. It was a quiet, empty, place where secrets liked to hide. Shelving new arrivals, I found myself near the far northern wall , the oldest part of the palace.
A strange chill lingered there. I pushed a shelf to sweep beneath it, and noticed faint scrape marks carved into the stone floor — recent ones.
My heart kicked up. This was no ordinary wall.
I brushed my fingers across the stones. A tiny indentation barely visible. A hidden seam. Rodrick’s message echoed in my head.
Teeth beneath its stone. Doors only royals know. This had to be one. But how to open it? I leaned closer, studying every line and crack.
The door behind me slammed open. I flinched, snapping up straight. The Queen stepped in — her icy perfume arrived before her voice.
“Arya.”
I bowed quickly. “Your Majesty.”
Her eyes swept the room, lingering on me too long.
“You spend a great deal of time in places where servants do not normally belong,” she said.
“I only go where I’m ordered to be.”
She stepped closer, voice like venom wrapped in silk. “I know what you’re doing.”
My breath caught.
“You think I can’t see the way my son looks at you?” Her lip curled. “You’re a stain he refuses to wipe clean.”
I stayed silent — anything I said would be used against me.
She leaned closer. “You are not worth a Luna’s crown. You are not even worth a wolf’s loyalty.”
The words sliced deep — deeper than I wished they could.
She turned away, robes swaying sharply. “Stay away from Kyle,” she ordered. “Before I have the guards drag you out by your hair.”
When she was gone, I collapsed against a shelf, shaking.
By nightfall, I was exhausted, physically, emotionally. My bunk in the servants’ quarters had never looked so inviting. But when I removed my boot, the small scroll fell out.
Rodrick’s message. I stared at it for a long moment. Find the tunnels, map them, or we fall.
I didn’t know where I belonged anymore. Whitestone? My old home? Rodrick’s shadow pack, the home that saved me Or just… me and my ability to stay alive?
I pressed the parchment to my lips, shut my eyes, and made the only choice I could. I would survive. Whatever it took. Even if it meant betraying the place I once loved.
As I lay under the thin blanket, one final thought haunted me. If Kyle ever discovered what I was doing. He wouldn’t forgive me. And I wasn’t sure I’d forgive myself.