Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Damon
The fire in my study had burned low, casting thin ribbons of amber across the desk. I didn’t need warmth tonight. I needed answers
Ronan arrived just after first bell, punctual as always, though I knew him well enough to spot the tension riding his spine. He shut the door behind his with quiet finality, then stepped forward and set a folder on the desk.
“You’re not going to like it,” he said.
I already didn’t based on his tone. I flipped open the cover, scanned the summary. My jaw clenched.
A name that should’ve brought familiarity, not fury. I looked up slowly. “Explain.”
Ronan’s voice remained even, but there was a tightness behind it. “One of the younger maids came forward. Said she also found gold under her cot traced everything.”
My fingers curled around the edge of the folder. “Am I not paying them enough?”
“She was afraid. She didn’t even realize the significance until she overheard one of the stewards mention the pin looked familiar. She’s too young to remember why.”
I didn’t speak. I stared down at the list of expenditures Ronan had traced–courier payments, coin transfers, scheduled staff duties. All neatly aligning with Isabella.
The betrayal was surgical.
“She went through my staff to hurt me,” I muttered. “And she used Natalie’s hairpin to do it.”
She hadn’t been mentioned in months. Years, really. Not by me.
But I remembered that pin. Remembered brushing her hair back the night she wore it. A crescent moon, delicate silver, simple and beautiful. A piece she wore often–and had died wearing.
My voice was flat. “She wanted to shake me.”
“She wanted to manipulate you,” Ronan corrected. “To remind you of her bloodline and that she’s the only one who can calm the rage you have. Or used
to.”
I stood slowly, my body too still, too cold. “Isabella’s been in service since my mother’s court, she’s Natalie’s sister for fuck sake. I brought her here thinking she was someone I could trust.”
“She’s not,” Ronan said, unflinching.
I nodded once, and that was all I allowed myself. No more rage, just the quiet finality of a decision already made.
“Dismiss her,” I said. “No scene. No warning. I want her gone by sundown. I’ll draft the statement myself. She’s not to speak to the anyone.”
“She’ll go quietly,” Ronan confirmed. “She’s smart enough to know better than to fight. But she’s traitorous enough to keep at it.”
I watched the fire for a long moment, the embers hissing softly. “Make sure the girl she used isn’t punished. Transfer her to library des for a few weeks. Somewhere out of the spotlight.”
Ronan nodded again. “You want me to issue a staff–wide notice?”
“No.” I crossed to the window. The garden below was soaked in morning light. The moonflowers would be closed now. Last night they’d been in full
bloom.
1/3
Chapter 53
So had Elena. Her hair pinned back, a shadow of silver glittering just above her ear, but a different one than before. The wolf pin suited her more
“She wouldn’t have known,” I said aloud.
Ronan followed my line of sight, knowing I didn’t mean the girl. “I don’t think Elena even knows she looks like Natalie.”
But that didn’t soothe the ache in my chest. Elena had become something quiet and dangerous in my life. Something I was starting to believe in And Isabella had tried to twist her into a weapon.
It wasn’t just manipulation, it was desecration,
I exhaled slowly. “What kind of person does that?”
Ronan didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Because we both knew the truth: the kind of person who claimed loyalty while gutting you from the inside. The kind of person who lived inside this palace wearing the mask of a friend.
I turned from the window. “Send her away, Ronan. And make sure no one follows her out.”
He left without another word. And I was alone in a room where everything I thought I knew about loyalty had just been shattered.
I left the study not long after Ronan. The corridors were quiet at this hour but I was restless like my wolf.
Isabella was gone. The report lay behind me, the case closed but heavy.
I should have gone to training to blow off some steam, instead I found myself crossing the east wing, trying to outrun off the grief and betrayal still simmering in my chest.
I wasn’t in the mood for company. Which made it all the more irritating when Vanessa stepped into my path like she’d been waiting for the right moment.
“My King,” she said with that poised smile that always struck me as too practiced. “A word?”
Not now. But something in her voice–smooth and edged like glass–made me pause. “One word,” I replied.
She took it as permission and fell in step beside me, her heels silent on the runner.
“I won’t waste your time,” she began. “I simply wanted to… express a concern. A personal one.”
I glanced at her sideways, already annoyed. “That’s far more than ohe word.”
Vanessa’s hands folded neatly at her waist. “It’s about Lady Elena.”
I stopped in my tracks:
She continued, carefully. “We grew up together, you know. I was close to her. Played together when we were children. I knew her as well as myself.”
My jaw tensed. “Is there a point to all this?”
Vanessa’s gaze flicked up to mine. Cool. Measured. “She doesn’t seem like herself. Not the Elena I knew.”
Silence stretched, thin and dangerous. I didn’t like what Vanessa was implying.
“She’s changed,” Vanessa added, softer now. “More than time or grief would explain. She’s closed off about her past. She doesn’t even recognize things we once did together, Small things. But they add up. The Elena I knew can’t fight or sing either.”
I stared at her for a long moment, weighing every word.
“You do realize people grow up and change,” I said.
“Of course,” she replied, too quickly. “But this feels…different. As though something’s wrong. You’ve always valued truth, Your Majesty, I thought you
14:06 Mon, 2 Jun M G
Chapter 53
should hear this from someone who’s known her longer than anyone else here.”
And there it was.
The calculated strike behind the concern. The insinuation designed to sound like care but crafted to cast doubt.
I hated how well it worked. Because once the thought settled in, it didn’t let go.
9211
But Elena had shared some of herself with me, kissed me back but pulled away like her need for me terrified her. She’d spoken with a rawness I hadn’t expected. And her scent… it had been honest,
Even the way she said my name–like she was still testing the shape of it.
Something about her didn’t line up. But I couldn’t–wouldn’t–leap to conclusions.
Vanessa stepped in front of me again, blocking my path. “I know you’re cross with me,” she said lightly. “But this isn’t about the selection. It’s about your safety. The Court’s trust. If someone’s holding back who they are, don’t you think you should know?”
“I do,” I said coldly.
She tilted her head. “Then ask the right questions.”
And then she was gone, disappearing down the opposite hall, her words lingering like her perfume–cloying and impossible to shake.
I didn’t move for a long moment. Because she was right.
I had to ask the right questions. I just didn’t know which ones would unravel everything… and which ones would ruin what was beginning to matter to
me most.
}
