The rain did not stop.
By morning, the capital was soaked through its streets slick with water, its rooftops dripping steadily as storm clouds refused to move on.
But the storm outside was nothing compared to the one forming inside the palace.
Cassian Varro had not slept.
He stood in the war chamber, a dimly lit room lined with maps and carved stone markers that represented troop positions, trade routes, and key points across the empire.
Now, new markings had been added.
The harbor.
The temple corridor.
Points of breach.
Points of failure.
Menek stood across the table, watching him in silence.
"You're looking for something specific," the advisor said finally.
Cassian didn't look up.
"I'm looking for what we missed."
Menek folded his arms.
"The cult attacked the harbor to draw us away. That part is clear."
"Yes."
"And then they infiltrated the palace."
Cassian nodded.
"But they didn't try to take control."
Menek frowned.
"They didn't try to assassinate anyone either."
Cassian finally looked up.
"Exactly."
The word settled heavily in the room.
Menek stepped closer to the table.
"So what was the real objective?"
Cassian's gaze shifted toward the temple corridor marked on the map.
"They came for something."
Menek followed his gaze.
"The woman?"
Cassian hesitated for the briefest second.
Then
"No."
Menek raised an eyebrow.
"You're sure?"
Cassian's voice lowered.
"They wanted to confirm something."
Menek's expression sharpened.
"The prophecy."
Cassian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Nyxara woke to silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that felt… wrong.
She sat up slowly, her body tense before her mind fully caught up.
Something was off.
The chamber door was slightly open.
It hadn't been when she went to sleep.
Nyxara's eyes narrowed.
Carefully, she slid out of bed and stepped toward the door.
The corridor beyond was empty.
Too empty.
No guards.
No footsteps.
No movement.
A chill ran down her spine.
"They wouldn't leave this unguarded," she murmured.
Her instincts screamed at her.
This wasn't an accident.
She stepped into the corridor.
The silence deepened.
Then
A faint sound.
Footsteps.
Behind her.
Nyxara turned sharply
A blade flashed toward her.
She barely had time to react.
The assassin's strike came fast, aimed straight for her throat.
Nyxara stumbled back, the blade grazing her shoulder instead.
Pain flared.
Sharp.
Hot.
But she didn't fall.
The attacker moved again, faster this time.
No hesitation.
No warning.
Nyxara raised her hand instinctively
And something inside her snapped.
Cassian felt it.
He froze mid-step in the war chamber, his expression tightening instantly.
Menek noticed.
"What is it?"
Cassian didn't answer.
Because he couldn't explain it.
But he felt it.
That same shift.
Stronger than before.
Closer.
Inside the palace.
"Stay here," Cassian said sharply.
Then he was already moving.
Nyxara didn't understand what was happening.
One moment she was backing away from the blade
The next
The air itself seemed to push outward.
A force.
Invisible.
Violent.
The assassin was thrown back several feet, slamming into the stone wall with a sickening crack.
Nyxara gasped.
Her hand trembled.
"What"
The assassin groaned, trying to rise.
Nyxara stared at him.
She hadn't touched him.
She hadn't done anything.
At least
Nothing she understood.
The man lunged again, desperate now.
Nyxara reacted without thinking.
The force came again.
Stronger.
The assassin hit the ground hard and didn't move.
Silence returned.
Broken only by Nyxara's uneven breathing.
"What is happening to me…?"
Cassian reached her just as she stepped back from the fallen attacker.
The moment he saw the body, his expression turned cold.
"Are you hurt?"
Nyxara shook her head, still shaken.
"He attacked me."
"I can see that."
Cassian crouched briefly beside the body, checking for any sign of life.
There was none.
He stood again.
"Guards should have been stationed here."
"They weren't," Nyxara said quietly.
Cassian's jaw tightened.
"Which means someone removed them."
Nyxara's chest tightened.
"Inside the palace."
Cassian met her gaze.
"Yes."
Within the hour, the palace was locked down.
Every corridor was searched.
Every guard was questioned.
No one left.
No one entered.
But the answers didn't come.
Which made everything worse.
Menek paced the war chamber now.
"A missing guard unit. A targeted attack. No witnesses."
Cassian stood near the window, silent.
"This wasn't random," Menek continued.
"No."
"They knew where she would be."
Cassian's eyes darkened.
"Yes."
Menek stopped pacing.
"That means there's a traitor."
The word hung in the air like a blade.
Cassian didn't deny it.
Nyxara sat alone again.
But this time, she didn't feel calm.
She felt… unstable.
Her hands still trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
From something else.
Power.
Uncontrolled.
Unfamiliar.
Dangerous.
She replayed the moment over and over in her mind.
The force.
The way it had responded to her fear.
Her instinct.
She hadn't summoned it.
It had answered her.
A soft knock came at the door.
Nyxara didn't respond immediately.
"Then open it."
Cassian's voice.
She stood slowly and walked to the door.
When she opened it, his gaze swept over her instantly.
Checking.
Measuring.
Assessing.
"You're not injured," he said.
"No."
Cassian stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
Silence filled the room again
"You used it."
Nyxara's breath caught.
"I didn't mean to."
"That doesn't matter."
Nyxara's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It does to me."
Cassian stepped closer.
"You threw a man across a stone corridor without touching him."
Nyxara's voice rose slightly.
"I know that!"
The words echoed between them.
Then silence again.
Cassian's tone softened but only slightly.
"You need to control it."
Nyxara shook her head.
"I don't even understand it."
"Then learn."
Nyxara let out a frustrated breath.
"You think this is something I can just train like a soldier?"
Cassian's gaze didn't waver.
"Yes."
Nyxara laughed bitterly.
"You really don't get it."
"Then explain it to me."
Nyxara hesitated.
Because she didn't know how.
"It's not just power," she said finally.
"It feels like something else is… watching."
Cassian's expression shifted just slightly.
"Watching?"
Nyxara nodded.
"Like whatever is happening to me isn't entirely mine."
Cassian didn't respond immediately.
"That's exactly why you need control."
Nyxara looked away.
"And if I can't?"
Cassian's voice dropped.
"Then I'll have to make a decision."
Nyxara turned back to him.
"What kind of decision?"
Cassian didn't answer right away.
But when he did
His voice was colder than before.
"The kind that protects the empire."
The meaning was clear.
Nyxara felt it like a blade.
Far beneath the desert sands, the ancient throne shifted again.
The crack spread deeper.
Wider.
Faster.
And this time
It did not stop.
Back in the palace, Nyxara stood very still.
Cassian's words echoed in her mind.
Protect the empire.
Even if it meant
Her.
She lifted her gaze slowly.
Meeting his eyes again.
"Then you'd better hope," she said quietly, "that I learn control."
Cassian didn't look away.
"For both our sakes."