𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 (𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃)

Chapter 53: Deceit and Betrayal

Arsen and I had ridden in at midday, cloaked and without ceremony. We didn't need it. Every soldier recognized us.

The smoke still hung low over the forest when we arrived. What was left of Emberthorn looked like a wound. Blackened trees, scorched earth, the stink of blood and burnt fur in the air. But it was quiet now. The roaring was gone. The ground had stopped shaking.

Xavier's banners stood beside Father's grey wolves and the gold of the imperial legions. The monsters were subdued. Their troops had cut through the front lines like a blade through cloth, and the imperial armies had sealed the rear.

And in the process, we found what we were looking for.

Constantine's secret armies.

Some lay dead in the mud, torn apart before they could even form a line. Others had scattered when the beast tide hit, armor and discipline gone in the panic.

The imperial knights were rounding them up now, dragging them out from behind fallen logs and half-burned tents. Those who slipped through were being pursued deeper into the woods by mounted squads.

The castle was still standing, but barely. The banners were down. The gates had been smashed open. The castle smelled of smoke and wet stone and something sour that clung to the back of the throat.

Imperial soldiers moved through the halls in pairs, torches casting long shadows over empty corridors. The air was still. Most of the staff had fled when the monsters came. Those who stayed were pressed against the walls now, faces pale as the knights moved them into the courtyard.

I stepped over a broken table in the main hall, my boots echoing on the stone. Arsen walked beside me, sword strapped at his hip. Fallon, the imperial knight commander—Arsen's most trusted knight, and Landon, whom we had brought along to help with the cleanup followed a few steps behind.

"Have you found the duke?" Arsen asked.

"'No, Your Majesty. Duke Constantine and Lady Phoebe—none of them were found in the castle or the camps. It seems they fled before the last wave hit," Fallon answered.

"How about Leon? The lady's personal knight." I asked this time.

"The blonde one who followed the lady during her trial?"

"Yes," I replied.

"We haven't found him as well, Your Majesty."

I just nodded as we rounded the corner.

"Search every room," I ordered, voice carrying without needing to be raised. "Dungeon to the highest tower. If it has a door, open it."

One of the captains bowed. "And the staff, Your Majesty?"

"Detain them," I said without looking back. "All of them. Cooks, maids, stablehands. Even the ones who look too old to lift a broom. I want them to be questioned separately. No one leaves until I say so."

He hesitated. "Some are just servants, Your Majesty. They may know nothing."

"Then questioning them will prove it," I replied. "And if they do know something, we'll find out faster than if we let them scatter."

The order spread through the ranks. Soldiers moved through the castle with more purpose now, knocking on doors, leading trembling servants out into the cold evening light.

Fallon pushed open the heavy doors to Constantine's private study. The room was a mess. Papers scattered across the floor, drawers pulled half out, a chair overturned. It looked like someone had left in a hurry.

Arsen moved to the window first, checking the lock, the sill. "They went out this way," he said. "The glass is fresh."

I didn't answer. I was scanning the desk. My eyes caught on a stack of ledgers shoved under a pile of old maps. I pulled them free.