Page 74 of Unravelled
Mira stepped closer, letting the fire’s warmth brush her skin, but the chill inside her had nothing to do with the cold.
“I know who attacked,” she said softly. “That’s not what I'm here for.” Brahn turned his head to look at her. Carefully. Measured.
She met his gaze, steady as she could. “Who told them Hallen would be undefended?” The pause was slight, but it was there.
Brahn’s mouth pulled tight. “I don’t know.” Too fast. Too even.
Mira tilted her head, softening her tone. Feigning uncertainty. “But you have guesses.”
“Of course I do,” he snapped, heat rising just enough to mask the deflection. “Someone let the Kharador through. Someone who knew how to cover their tracks. And you think it’s not from inside? You think it’s not someone who walks these halls?”
He turned, pacing now, not toward her, but away, so she wouldn’t see how his face. Because that slip, that moment, it was enough. It was too smooth. Too practiced. She schooled her expression, watching him carefully from the corner of her eye as he continued his tirade.
“We’ve got a court full of silk-draped snakes,” he muttered, fists clenched. “And a Regent too blind to see them. And the Betrothed? Decorative. He's practically an Ornamental.” A bitter scoff. “If either of them had done more than pose for paintings, Hallen might still be standing right now.”
Mira's anger flared hot and tight in her chest. He had known. Not just known. Expected. He wasn’t upset Hallen had fallen. He was angry it had fallen too soon. And that meant he had planned for it to fall. Mira stayed quiet. Let him talk. Let him reveal himself.
“This didn’t happen by accident,” he said, voice low and burning. “Someone made a deal. Someone traded lives for favor. And unless we find out who, more villages will burn.”
Mira almost flinched. He was still pretending. Still playing both sides, still casting himself as the vigilant hero, the only one willing to fight fire with fire. And all the while, he was the one holding the match. The kitchen door creaked open. Torvyn rushed in like the shifting of a tide, quiet and inevitable. His gaze landed on Brahn instantly, a sharp read, the kind that didn’t need words.
“Enough,” he said, cool and precise. “These walls are not soundproof. We lose more than a village if you can't keep quiet.” Brahn stilled. Mira watched the shift in him like a blade slipping into its sheath. Not cooled. Controlled.
His next words were smoother, tailored. “We’ve already begun. Quiet rescues. No banners. No approval needed.” Brahn turned back to her, a gleam in his eyes like polished brass. And Mira saw him, truly saw it. There was no guilt in his eyes. No mask at all. He wasn’t hiding because he didn’t think he had to. He thought she didn’t know.
She swallowed hard, and look to Torvyn. He didn’t know. She was sure of it now. He didn’t know what Brahn had done, what he had allowed. What he had planned.
He was still standing in the dark, thinking they were on the same side. She couldn’t tell him. Torvyn had always believed in people like Brahn. He believed in loyalty. In love. If she told him now, if she stripped that belief away too quickly, she would be the one he blamed. Mira didn’t know if she could be the one to break his heart.
“Discretion is survival,” Torvyn said, folding his cloak over a chair. Brahn nodded. “The people will remember who helped them. Not who waited for permission.”
Mira kept her expression neutral. Her fingers curled around the edge of the long prep table, steadying herself as her chest tightened. He thought she was still a part of it. Still his tool.
Brahn stepped closer, lowering his voice like a conspirator. “Smile for them. Sit in their circles. Someone betrayed us, Mira. But they’re not in the shadows. They’re right in front of us.”
Mira’s heart slammed in her chest. She let out a soft breath, like a sigh of agreement and nodded. Let him believe she was still caught in his game.
Mira left the kitchens with her pulse thudding in her ears, Brahn’s voice still hot in her mind. His certainty. His strategy. His ambition masked as duty. It coiled around her ribs like a snare. But even knowing Brahn had want Hallen to fall, it had still fallen early. If someone had given Hallen to the Kharadorians ahead of Brahn’s plan, then it had come from someone in power. She needed to know it wasn’t Ren.
Her steps quickened through the palace’s corridors. Thesunlight through the stained-glass windows cast fractured colors across the stone. She followed it upward, toward the observatory. If Ren had given the order, then.... Mira pushed the though down. He wouldn't have.
???
Mira hesitated at the arched doorway, her fingers brushing the cool stone as she peered inside. The observatory was dimly lit, a hush settling over the space like a held breath. The mechanical orrery stood like a sentinel in the center of room, and amidst moved a familiar figure in flowing white robes, each step a study in grace and precision.
“Cleric Perrin,” Mira called softly. She turned. Her pale eyes, sharp and unwavering, settled on her.
“Mira?” she said, quiet surprise threading her voice. “Youare supposed to be at the reflecting pool?”
Mira stepped inside, the stone cool beneath her feet, the air thick with the faint scent of old parchment and polished brass. “I was... I"Mira fumbled, grasping for something. "I was hoping to find Torvyn.”
Perrin’s expression remained measured, though the edges of her veil shifted slightly as she tilted her head toward a brass astrolabe. Her fingers, gloved and steady, brushed a fine layer of dust from its etched rings.
“He was here. But the council have since adjourned for the Veiled Night Celebrations tomorrow.” Her voice carried no judgment, but Mira could hear the suspicion.
Mira nodded, her pulse a steady thrum in her ears. Ren’s quarters were in the north wing, close to the council chamber. If he had returned there, she needed to find him before he attended the Celebrations.
“Thank you, Cleric Perrin.” Mira turned toward the door, the faintest echo of her footsteps swallowed by the thick stone walls. But before she could cross the threshold, Perrin’s voice stopped her.
