Chapter 56 The Truth That Hunts You

Chapter 56 The Truth That Hunts You
Lyria’s POV

The palace no longer felt like Whitestone.

It breathed differently now, ragged and uneven, like a wounded beast struggling to stay alive. Smoke clung to the ceilings in thick, choking layers, turning torchlight dull and sickly. Every step echoed too loudly, as if the stones themselves were screaming accusations beneath my boots.

This place had raised me. I trained here, bled here. I had sworn my loyalty beneath these arches, and now, strangers walked its halls like conquerors.

I pressed myself against a cracked pillar in the western corridor, barely daring to breathe as Rodrick’s soldiers passed. They wore no fear. No urgency. Their laughter bounced off the stone, sharp and ugly, carrying the confidence of men who believed the battle was already won.

One dragged a wounded Whitestone guard by the collar, leaving a dark smear of blood across the floor.Another kicked a fallen banner aside.My stomach twisted. This wasn’t how invasions happened.

There was no scrambling defense. No rallying horns. No disciplined resistance.It felt… prepared, like it was all planned.

I forced myself to move again, keeping to the shadows, my pulse pounding so loudly I was certain someone would hear it. My only thought and my only anchor was Ezra. He would know what to do.He always did.

He had been calm after Valen’s exposure. Too calm. While the elders argued and the guards braced for Crescent Fang, Ezra had simply watched, waiting, as if he already knew how the storm would break.

He had trusted and chosen me. The memory burned now.

“You love this pack,” he’d said.

I had believed him. I rounded a corner and froze.

Two soldiers stood near the broken doors of the old armory, their voices low but careless.

“I’m telling you,” one said, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Straight under the palace. A tunnel wide enough for a battalion.”

The other snorted. “Rodrick planned it for years. Didn’t expect it to be handed to him so neatly, though.”

My heart skipped.

“Handed?” I whispered before I could stop myself.

They turned sharply. For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Then one of them laughed. “Relax. Just another loyal fool.”

My vision tunneled.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice thin.

“The door,” the soldier said easily. “Someone inside opened it for us. Didn’t even fight.”

The world tilted. I staggered back, bile rising in my throat.

“No,” I breathed. “That’s not…”

“Best invasion I’ve ever seen,” the other added. “King never stood a chance.”

I didn’t hear anything after that..I ran..I didn’t know where my feet were taking me until I was there. The old council wing.

The corridor outside it was littered with debris, splintered tables, torn scrolls, blood drying black in the grooves of the stone. The sigil of Whitestone lay shattered at the center of the floor, cracked cleanly in half.

And standing beyond it, untouched, was Ezra. He turned as I entered. For one irrational, desperate moment, relief flooded me.

“Ezra,” I gasped. “Thank the moons you’re alive.”

His expression didn’t change.

“What’s happening?” I rushed on. “Rodrick’s soldiers are everywhere. They said…” I swallowed. “They said someone opened the tunnels.”

Ezra studied me quietly, as if weighing something. Then he smiled. Not kindly. Not warmly. Just… knowingly.

“Yes,” he said. “They would.”

My chest tightened painfully. “You knew?”

“Of course.”

The word landed like a blade.

“You told me it was for evacuation,” I said, my voice rising despite myself. “You said it was a precaution.”

“And it was,” Ezra replied. “Just not for Whitestone.”

I took a step back.

“No,” I whispered. “No, you wouldn’t…”

“You did exactly what I asked,” he said calmly. “Exactly what I needed.”

My hands began to shake.

“You said Crescent Fang…”

“Was a distraction,” he finished. “Valen served his role well.”

My breath came in short, panicked bursts. “You used him.”

“Yes.”

“And me,” I whispered.

Ezra stepped closer. “You wanted to matter. To be trusted. You said it yourself.”

Tears blurred my vision. “You said I was protecting the pack.”

“And you were,” he said softly. “Just not the one you were born into.”

Something shattered inside me.

“The king,” I said, my voice barely sound. “King Noble… he was still inside when…”

Ezra’s eyes flicked away. That single movement destroyed me.

“No,” I choked. “No, no, no…”

“He confronted Rodrick,” Ezra said evenly. “Brave. Predictable.”

I collapsed against the wall, my legs refusing to hold me.

“You killed him,” I whispered.

“I allowed him to die,” Ezra corrected. “There’s a difference.”

A sob tore out of me, raw and uncontrolled.

“I opened the door,” I said. “I opened the tunnel.”

“Yes,” Ezra replied.

Every scream I’d heard echoed back now with clarity. Every fallen guard. Every drop of blood.I had done this.

“You used me,” I whispered.

Ezra regarded me coolly. “You were eager. Loyal. Desperate to be seen.”

The words burned worse than any insult.

“I believed you,” I said.

“And that,” he replied, “is why this worked.”

My knees gave out. I slid to the floor, shaking, clutching at my armor like it might hold me together.

“They’ll kill me,” I whispered. “When they find out.”

“Perhaps,” Ezra said. “Or perhaps exile.”

“You don’t care,” I said hoarsely.

He didn’t deny it.

“I was loyal,” I sobbed. “I would’ve died for this pack.”

“And now others have,” he said. “You should be proud.”

I screamed then.A broken, animal sound that tore my throat raw.Ezra turned away.

“You should leave,” he said, already walking toward the door. “Guilt is heavier than chains.”

He paused once, glancing back.

“You served your purpose, Lyria.”

Then he was gone.

I don’t know how long I stayed there. Time meant nothing anymore. Eventually, I stood.

My body felt hollow, as if something essential had been scooped out and discarded. I moved through the palace like a ghost, unseen, unwanted, stepping over the consequences of my devotion.

Rodrick’s banners hung where Whitestone’s once had.

The truth followed me everywhere. I had opened the door. And through it came death.

Somewhere beyond these walls, Arya was alive. Kyle too. They would return. And when they did, I would not run. Because ignorance was not innocence.

And loyalty, when given blindly, could destroy kingdoms.