Elira could no longer ignore it.
The war, the curse, the bond, the shifting attention of powers she could not name—it all pointed toward something larger than kingdoms.
She returned to Maelor in the library.
"I want the truth," she said.
Maelor closed the book he was holding slowly.
"There is always a cost to truth."
"I have already been given worse."
A faint, tired smile crossed his face.
"You remind me of her," he said.
Elira froze slightly. "Who?"
Maelor's expression darkened.
"The first one who stood beside Kael and tried to understand what the world had done to him."
Elira felt the bond react faintly, as though Kael himself had felt the mention even from elsewhere.
"That story ended badly," Maelor added softly.
Elira's voice lowered.
"Tell me anyway."
A long silence followed.
Then Maelor spoke.
"Because the Ruined King was not always ruined."
And for the first time since arriving in this place—
Elira felt something shift beneath everything she thought she knew.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something far more dangerous.
Uncertainty.