Chapter 73 Elena Heart- POV
The walk back to the inn felt like walking toward a gallows. My skin was still buzzing from the warmth of Xavier’s hand, but as soon as the familiar silhouette of the inn came into view, the air turned frigid.
Grace was standing by the heavy oak door, her arms crossed over her chest, her face a mask of pinched, aristocratic fury.
She didn't wait for me to reach her before she hissed, "Where have you been? You vanished before the sun was even up. I expected a report, not an empty room."
I knew she’d had me tailed. The rebellion didn't leave "weapons" like me to wander the capital without a leash. If I lied now, if I tried to hide the meeting, I’d be dead or locked in a cellar before nightfall.
"I met him, Grace," I said, my voice steady, projecting a calm, cold confidence. "I met Dark in that little cafe three blocks over. I knew your shadows were watching, so I didn't try to hide it."
Grace’s eyes narrowed, the anger flickering into suspicion. "The guard? Why waste your morning on a foot soldier?"
I stepped closer, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Because that 'foot soldier' is the King's shadow. He’s obsessed. He followed me from the guild, worried about my safety.
He’s already half-convinced I’m some fragile noble girl in need of a protector. I’m letting him believe it. By the time I’m done with him, he’ll be handing me the keys to the King’s private chambers just to 'keep me safe'."
A slow, predatory smirk spread across Grace’s face. She reached out and tucked a stray hair behind my ear, her touch making my skin crawl.
"Strategic. To think, I thought you were just being sentimental. Buying a man’s loyalty with your body is the oldest trick, Elena, but it works because men are predictable."
I let her believe the lie. I let her think I was the cold-blooded seductress she’d trained. It was the only way to stay close enough to strike.
"Now, move," she commanded, turning toward the street. "We’re going back to the Merchant Guild. Not for scrolls this time. We’re meeting a 'friend' of the Duke’s. If you’re going to be our little spider, you need to see the web we’re spinning."
As we boarded the carriage, I felt a surge of grim determination. Xavier didn't know the name Valerio, which meant the Duke was a phantom, a name whispered in the future but nonexistent in the present records.
If I could see who was funneling the gold to Leo, if I could trace the mana cores, I could find the thread that led to the serpent.
"Who are we meeting?" I asked as the carriage lurched forward.
"A representative of the 'Silver Sun' collective," Grace said, looking out the window with an air of triumph.
"They provide the funding that the King’s tax collectors can’t track. They are the ones who turned our allies' heads. They are the ones who will ensure the 'Rebel' is ready when the time comes."
The Silver Sun. My blood ran cold. That was the symbol on Valerio’s banners in the first timeline, a serpent coiled around a silver sun.
The pieces were moving. Grace thought she was taking me to a meeting to solidify the rebellion, but in reality, she was taking me straight to the source of the rot.
I clutched my skirts, my fingers finding the hidden weight of the dagger at my thigh.
Xavier was looking for a shadow, but I was about to walk right into its heart. I just had to hope I could get the information back to my "Dark" guard before the Silver Sun set on the kingdom forever.
The Merchant’s Guild was a hive of quiet greed, the air thick with the smell of old paper and the muffled clink of gold being weighed in the back rooms.
Grace had left me in the foyer with a sharp look that warned me to stay put, before disappearing behind the heavy, reinforced doors of the Master’s Office.
She brought me here to what? To stand on the wall? Hell no!
I didn't stay put.
I adopted the persona of a restless, vapid noblewoman, sighing dramatically and smoothing the skirts of my dress.
With an arched eyebrow and a look of practiced boredom, I drifted toward the guild’s private library, a sanctuary for "waiting" guests that was conveniently partitioned from the main offices by nothing more than a row of tall, mahogany bookshelves.
I pulled a random leather-bound tome from a shelf and leaned against a pillar, my head tilted as if I were struggling with the prose. In reality, my ears were straining toward the semi-private alcove just behind me.
"The price has doubled, Viscount," a voice hissed. It was oily, cultured, and instantly recognizable. Viscount Thorne. In the previous timeline, he was the first to bend the knee when the capital fell.
"Double?" a second voice whispered, sounding frantic. "We have already funneled enough mana cores to power a small army. What more could he want?"
"He wants the lock, not just the key," Thorne replied. I heard the distinct rustle of a map being unrolled. "Leo is in deep, but he is wavering. He needs assurance that when the 'Silver Sun' rises, he won't be executed as a turncoat. He needs a written guarantee from the Benefactor."
My heart skipped. The Benefactor. Not Valerio. They were still using a title, shielding the name even from their highest-ranking conspirators.
"And what of the King's shadow?" the frantic voice asked. "The one they call Dark? He’s been seen sniffing around the lower districts. If he catches wind of the transaction at the Cathedral tonight..."
"Dark is a nuisance, nothing more," Thorne dismissed with a cold chuckle. "By the time he realizes the gold isn't coming from the trade routes, the 'Rebel' will be active. We are buying the one person the King trusts with his life. Once Leo moves the guards from the North Gate, the King will be sitting on a throne of glass, waiting for it to shatter."
I gripped the book so hard the spine groaned. They weren't just buying Leo; they were using him to create a blind spot at the North Gate. In the first timeline, that was exactly where the first Titan had manifested—right in the center of the royal barracks.
"The meeting at the Cathedral," the viscount whispered. "Is He coming?"
"The Benefactor doesn't walk the streets like a commoner," Thorne sneered. "But his representative will be there. Look for the man with the silver serpent pin. He carries the seal."
The sound of footsteps approaching the library forced me to snap the book shut and pivot. I barely had time to school my face back into a mask of boredom before Grace appeared at the entrance, her eyes scanning the room.
"There you are," she said, her voice tight with a strange excitement. "The meeting is over. We have our orders."