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The dungeons of the Northern Palace were rarely visited by the King of the Elysium himself unless a soul was about to be broken or set free. Or even both . Kyon moved through the damp corridors, his silk cap trailing behind him like a quiet warning. He stopped before the cell of the man who was once a King and was now merely a Duke in exile: Everest.
"Your penance is served, Everest," Kyon said, his voice a low, vibrating hum. "But freedom in the North comes with a price. You will not leave these walls until you have looked the child you broke in the eye."
Minutes later, in the sun drenched infirmary garden, Calix sat on a stone bench, his small feet dangling. He was seven now, his features more defined, but his eyes still held that ethereal, angelic softness that made him look like a creature of light.
Everest was led into the garden. He looked older, his golden hair streaked with grey, his pride replaced by a hollow exhaustion. Under the watchful, lethal gaze of Kyon, Everest dropped to one knee before the seven year old boy.
"Calix," Everest began, his voice raspy. "I was a man blinded by my own pride. I hurt you. I broke your ankles when I should have been a guardian. I am... truly sorry."
The silence that followed was heavy. Kenzo, standing just a few feet away, had his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He was ready to pounce if the Duke so much as breathed wrong.
But Calix simply smiled. It was a soft, sad, and impossibly kind expression. He reached out a small hand and patted Everest's rough shoulder. "It's okay, Uncle Everest," Calix whispered. "My feet will be okay. The doctor says I can run almost as fast as Kenzo now. Don't be sad anymore."
Kyon watched this with a mix of pride and worry. Calix's heart was too soft for a world of wolves. He signaled the guards, and Everest stood, following Kyon into the private office for a talk that would decide the fate of the Southern Isles' trade routes.
While the adults were embroiled in politics, the twins sought sanctuary in the library. Kenzo had a notebook open, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
"We have to tell Papa Arion tonight," Kenzo whispered, his voice urgent. "If we tell him about the lake, and the way she made you sleep, he'll send Aunt Lily away forever."
Calix nodded, though he was trembling. "But she's his sister, Kenzo. What if he thinks we're just making it up because we don't like lessons?"
"I'll show him the bite mark!" Kenzo insisted. "I'll tell him—"
"Tell him what, exactly?"
The voice was like a blade of ice. Lily stood in the doorway, her arms crossed, a mocking smile playing on her lips. She stepped into the room, and the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
Kenzo immediately moved, stepping in front of Calix. He was smaller than her, a seven year old facing a powerful Alpha woman, but he stood his ground, his small chest heaving. "We're telling Papa everything. About the dark room and the way you scared Calix."
Lily laughed—a dry, sharp sound. "And who, my dear little nephews, is going to believe you? You, Kenzo, who attacks guards and throws his own brother in the lake? Or Calix, the delicate one who can't even remember what he ate for breakfast half the time?"
She leaned down, her eyes narrowing into predatory slits. "You are children. Troublemakers. To the world, I am the devoted aunt who spent two years trying to fix a broken child. If you speak against me, I will simply tell Arion that the lake water has scrambled your little brains. I can make your lives very, very difficult."
She turned on her heel and walked away, her footsteps echoing like a funeral march.
Calix collapsed onto a chair, his face pale. "Kenzo... we should give up."
"No!" Kenzo turned, grabbing Calix's hands. "We can't!"
"She's right," Calix sobbed, his voice breaking. "No one listens to us. I'm scared, Kenzo. I'm always scared of everything. The shadows, the voices, the way my body changes... I won't make it. I can't be a Prince. I just want to disappear now."
Kenzo was trembling too. The threat Lily had leveled at them was heavy, and for a moment, the seven year old Alpha felt the crushing weight of being small in a world of giants. But then he looked at Calix—his twin, his soul.
He squeezed Calix's hands tight. "I'm scared too," Kenzo admitted, his voice shaking. "But I'm your shield. We'll find a solution. Maybe we don't tell Papa... maybe we show him. We'll find a way, Calix. I promise."
The heavy atmosphere was suddenly broken by the sound of skipping feet. Celine burst into the library, her face glowing with a joy that felt like a foreign language to the twins.
"Kenzo! Calix! You won't believe it!" she chirped, throwing her arms around both of them in a massive hug. "I made friends! Real friends at the Academy today! We played a game of logic puzzles and I won three times! Everyone wants to sit with me at lunch tomorrow!"
The twins forced smiles, hugging her back. Celine was the light of their triad, her normal life a stark contrast to the secret war they were fighting. They didn't have the heart to tell her that their world was currently made of threats.
Miles away, in the quiet solitude of the Military Academy's elite study hall, Aiden was hunched over a desk. He was twelve now, his shoulders broader, his voice beginning to drop into a deeper, gravelly tone.
He was trying to focus on a complex tactical map of the Eastern Border, but something was wrong. His body felt like a bowstring pulled too tight. A sharp, sudden tightness in his pants made him shift uncomfortably in his chair. He felt an localized heat, a thumping pulse in his lower abdomen that he didn't understand.
Is the room too hot? Aiden thought, rubbing the back of his neck. Or maybe the training earlier was too intense?
He felt an unfamiliar, distracting arousal—a physical hardness that made his face flush with confusion. He didn't know that his first Alpha Heat was beginning to stir in his blood. He didn't know that his body was finally catching up to the protective instincts he had felt for Lorcan all those years ago.
He tried to stand up to get some water, but the friction of his clothes against his skin made him gasp and sit back down immediately. He felt itchy, restless, and strangely lonely.
"Lorc..." he whispered, the name slipping out of his mouth before he could stop it.
He ignored the sensation, gritting his teeth and forcing his eyes back to the map. He was a Northern Prince,he didn't have time for weird feelings.