They say betrayal is quiet.
But in my court, it sings.
The moment I returned from facing Vireon, my power was different.
Not weaker.
Just… recognized.
Like the world remembered what I could do and so did the people in it.
My summoned creature loyal, silent, born of my darkest flame stays close.
But others?
They look at me differently now.
Some with awe.
Some with worship.
And one… with fear.
His name is Caelen.
Once a priest.
Now my war strategist.
One of the first to kneel when I reclaimed my throne.
He stood by me through rebellions, through ritual, through my rewriting of fate.
But now?
His loyalty has grown teeth.
"You saw him," he says in private.
"Vireon. You let him speak to you."
"He's not a threat," I reply.
"Not yet."
"Not yet?" Caelen's voice rises, trembling.
"He's the only one who's ever broken you."
That word.
Broken.
I don't show it but it lingers.
Like a wound I thought was healed.
"You forget," I say coldly, "I was never his victim."
"No," Caelen murmurs.
"You were something worse. You were in love."
He bows low.
But his magic coils beneath his robes.
He's preparing something.
And I know the signs.
Because I taught him everything.
That night, my dreams are strange.
Too vivid.
Too shaped.
Too controlled.
And when I wake
Caelen is gone.
Along with the blade forged to kill me.
Not because he hates me.
But because he fears the version of me who might love Vireon again.