Elantra:
The guard didn't blink.
He stood between me and the door like a wall made of stone and silence. His hand rested casually, too casually, on the hilt of his blade. I could see the gleam of the Royal sigil engraved into his armor: the silver crescent cradling a blooming flower. The symbol of peace.
Ironic, really.
Because the tension in the air was anything but peaceful.
"I wasn't told about a curfew," I said slowly, keeping my voice steady even as every nerve in my body screamed to run.
"It's a new order," the guard replied, expression blank. "As of tonight. For your safety."
My eyes narrowed. "My safety… or theirs?"
No answer.
His silence spoke louder than words.
"I want to speak to Cassian."
"He's unavailable."
"I wasn't asking."
The guard didn't flinch. "Your quarters have been enhanced with security wards. You'll remain here until further notice."
He turned sharply, gave a signal, and another guard appeared outside the door. Together, they stepped out and shut it behind them with a heavy click.
The sound of the lock turning echoed through the room like a sentence.
I stood frozen for several heartbeats. Then I walked to the door and tested it.
Locked.
Of course.
I paced the room for what felt like hours. My bare feet made no sound against the cold stone, but the echo of my heartbeat filled every corner. Heat built beneath my skin, not from anger, but from something deeper. Something older. Power surged in slow waves, curling along my spine like a living flame. My blood hummed, awareness stretching outward like invisible threads.
The bond lines were awake again.
Riven's energy pulsed erratically, like a war drum pounding from the inside. Wild. Concerned. The way lightning warns just before it cracks the sky.
Lucien's thread buzzed like static, sharp, alert, watching. Always watching.
But Cassian's was a wall. Calm. Impenetrable. Controlled to the point of silence.
And that silence worried me most of all.
I crossed the room to the full-length mirror, the one with the ornate silver frame, too suspicious for something that was supposed to be just decorative. I stared at myself for a long moment. Pale. Barefoot. Eyes shadowed with sleeplessness and something else I hadn't quite named yet. Something that looked like awareness.
I squared my shoulders and forced my voice to be steady.
"System," I said aloud, soft but clear.
A shimmer of silver pulsed across the glass in answer.
"Affirmative."
"Am I under surveillance?"
"Yes."
"How many channels?"
"Three. One external. Two internal. One unknown."
My stomach tightened. "Unknown?"
"Unregistered network detected. Intermittent. Masked."
I took a step back from the mirror, heart pounding against my ribs.
Someone was watching me. Someone the system couldn't track.
Someone inside this palace.
And they didn't want to be found.
The night dragged on like it was stitched from molasses and dread. I tried to sleep, curling under the heavy duvet, but I could feel the weight of invisible eyes pressing on my chest. I closed the curtains. Padded across the room. I whispered to the dark just to hear my own voice.
But no one answered.
I was alone.
Or so I thought.
-------------------------------------------------
Lucien:
Lucien stood on the opposite rooftop, hidden in shadow, cloak whipping around his legs like smoke. Below him, her suite glowed with a flickering, restless light.
He knew this would happen.
The Council had grown anxious. She was syncing faster than predicted. Seeing too much. Feeling too much.
And worse, the system was responding.
That wasn't supposed to happen. The system wasn't sentient.
Not until her.
Lucien clenched his jaw, the bond thread between them coiling tighter. He could feel her emotions now, uncertainty, fear, defiance layered like silk. Her very presence called to the part of him he'd buried. The part that used to hope.
But he couldn't afford hope now.
He turned away from the edge just as the energy in the air shifted violently.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
----------------------------------------------------
Back to Elantra:
I woke up to the sound of breathing.
Not mine.
Not loud.
But present.
My eyes flew open, heart kicking like a startled horse. The fire had died to a low orange glow. Shadows stretched long and sharp across the floor.
And in the far corner, by the armoire, something moved.
I sat up slowly, every instinct screaming.
"Who's there?!"
No response.
I slid out of bed, backing toward the door. My bare feet touched the stone and flinched from the cold. My fingers brushed the edge of the vanity, searching for anything sharp, anything useful.
The mirror flickered.
Silver light pulsed across its surface.
"Override recognized. Guardian proximity detected."
Guardian?
"System, define Guardian," I whispered.
But there was no reply.
Instead, the air in the room thickened. The shadows curled inward like breath.
And from them… a figure emerged.
Tall. Cloaked in gray. Face obscured by a deep hood. The air around it hummed with power, like something very, very old.
I backed away until my spine met cold stone.
"Who are you?"
The figure remained still.
Silent.
But the moment stretched, and something flared behind my eyes, a memory not mine.
A flash of the same cloaked figure holding a child wrapped in black velvet.
A soft voice whispering, "Keep her hidden. The system must not find her before she's ready."
My knees buckled.
I gasped, clutching at my chest, trying to breathe through the rising panic.
The figure stepped forward—
And the door exploded.
Magic cracked through the air like thunder.
Lucien was a blur of movement, blade drawn, aura flaring with black energy that pulsed like smoke and lightning.
The cloaked figure turned, deflected the first strike, and moved like a ghost, fast, fluid, too fast.
I dropped to the ground, arms over my head as the force of their magic shook the walls.
Lucien snarled like something not entirely human.
"Touch her again," he growled, "and I'll unmake you."
Another strike, metal against force, sent sparks flying. The figure stumbled, cloak flaring wide and then vanished.
Dissolving into mist that scattered into the shadows.
Gone.
Lucien's boots hit the stone with a thud as he crossed to me.
He crouched low, hands gentle despite the power still pulsing from him. "Elantra. Are you hurt?"
I couldn't speak.
He touched my cheek, cold fingers grounding me.
"Elantra. Look at me. Breathe."
I met his eyes, and something in them… cracked.
Concern. Raw and wild and real.
"They weren't just watching," he said quietly. "That was a breach. They came for you."
"I think I know them," I whispered. "Or I did. They knew me. Called themselves a… Guardian."
Lucien's expression darkened.
"Then you're not safe here anymore."
"I thought I never was."
He stood, helping me to my feet. "You weren't. But now… they're not waiting anymore."
He turned toward the open window, the moonlight pouring in like silver flood.
The wind howled outside.
It sounded like warning.
Lucien didn't look back at me. He stared into the wind like it was telling him something he didn't want to hear.
"Pack your things, Elantra."
"We leave before dawn. With or without the Crown's permission."
"Because if we stay… you won't live to see the full moon."