Chapter 25:
Beneath The Stone
Ronan hadn’t felt this in a long time.
Something like confidence, light but solid. A feeling he’d almost forgotten. The courtyard was clearing, the nobles were dispersing, and he stood beside Lady Selira with the quiet satisfaction of a man who believed he'd done well.
Grace had curtsied perfectly. The gifts had arrived without issue. No awkward pauses, no forgotten protocol, no embarrassing mistakes. It had looked like a proper Ashford welcome, and for once, it had been him at the center of it. Even Grace had done her part. She’d asked to be excused — politely — and had left the scene like a trained lady. He was proud of her, really. It must’ve been cold for her out there, standing still like that. Let her rest now. He could handle the rest.
He turned toward Selira and offered his arm, posture tall.
“If you’ll allow me, Lady Selira,” he said, formal but warm, “I’d be honored to show you your quarters. The north wing was prepared under the Duchess’s supervision.”
Selira nodded and accepted his arm with quiet ease. “That would be appreciated. The estate is… larger than I imagined.”
Ronan smiled. “Most guests say that. But once you walk it a few times, it begins to feel like home.”
They passed beneath the outer arch, flanked by two Ashford guards. He kept his pace smooth, his tone steady. She didn’t speak much, but he didn’t mind. Her silence felt composed, not awkward.
He liked that.
“I’m glad to finally meet you,” he added after a moment. “Her Grace said very little about the arrangement, only that it would benefit Ashford. But I trust the Crown’s choices.”
He didn’t say it as a threat. He said it the way someone might mention the weather, calm, proud, effortless.
The Crown had looked after him. After everything that happened, after Alaric and Cedric, his uncle, the King, had personally ordered a contingent of royal knights to ensure his safety. Some still watched the outer corridors. Some had reported directly to the Duchess, but Ronan knew the truth: they were the King's eyes first.
That comforted him. He didn’t think it needed to comfort anyone else.
He glanced sideways at Selira.
“I hope the wing suits you. The Duchess had it furnished for long-term residence, not just passing guests.”
Selira tilted her head slightly, her gaze moving along the stonework of the north wing’s private entrance as they approached. “It’s more than I expected.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
He smiled again, a little too proud, a little too sure.
They passed under the arched corridor that led toward the north wing. Ronan didn’t rush, he let the pace speak for itself. Deliberate. Measured. A host who had nothing to prove.
Behind them, Selira’s entourage followed with appropriate distance.
Her guards, the Velmire soldiers in silver-blue, had already been directed to the outer barracks beyond the gardens. They wouldn’t sleep near her wing, nor patrol it without Ashford's say-so. That had been settled early, without dispute.
The battle-mage, though, walked five steps behind her. Cloaked in dark indigo, sigils faintly visible along his cuffs, his presence never shifted. He didn’t glance at Ronan. He didn’t glance at the guards.
He watched only Selira. And the halls.
Ronan noticed it, but chose to interpret it as professionalism. It was comforting, in a way. A woman like Selira deserved that kind of vigilance.
The three noble daughters trailed behind, half a dozen steps back from the mage, cloaks drawn up, eyes wide. They were talking in hushed, excited tones that still managed to carry in the stone corridors.
“This hall is bigger than the governor’s entire house—”
“Did you see the Citadel? I thought it would be cold and plain, but it’s like something from a play—”
“I thought Valewick would be gray. It’s not. The light makes the stone look like silver—”
They were comparing everything to Velmire. The coastal courts. The narrow towers. The sea-view halls where everything smelled like salt and silk.
But they were impressed.
Even they could feel it, the weight in the walls, the age in the foundation.
The Ashford estate wasn’t made to be beautiful. It was made to last.
Ronan smiled to himself. They weren’t even in the grand wing yet.
He turned his head slightly toward Selira.
“It’s quiet here,” he said. “Even at full staff. The stone keeps noise out. My brother Cedric used to joke that the silence would drive him mad.”
She gave a small nod, her expression unreadable. “I think I prefer quiet.”
Ronan chuckled. “Then you’ll like this part of the estate. The north wing doesn’t echo like the great hall. It’s more private. But well-guarded. The Duchess made sure of that.”
He gestured toward a heavy wooden door ahead, where a steward waited beside a pair of Ashford knights.
“Your quarters.”
--::--
The doors opened to a softly lit corridor. Tapestries in silver and crimson, tall stone columns, deep carpets. Everything here was built to endure weight, of history, of snow, of war.
Selira stepped inside without pausing.
The air was still and clean. The light from the tall windows was already growing thin with the approach of dusk. Somewhere behind her, the chatter of the girls continued in soft waves, tapering as they followed the steward's gestures down the hall to their rooms.
Ronan walked beside her, speaking pleasantly. Proud of the stone. Proud of the quiet. Proud of Ashford.
She nodded at the right moments, offered neutral compliments. He seemed pleased with himself, relaxed, confident in the way only men who thought their inheritance would carry them could be.
He looked good. Broad-shouldered, clean, well-postured.
But there was nothing behind his eyes.
Polite. Educated. Slightly smarter than a potato, perhaps. No ambition in his questions. No curiosity in his tone.
That worried her more than if he’d been cruel.
He gestured to the receiving chamber at the heart of the suite, a fire already lit, cushions arranged around a low polished table. A carved Ashford crest rested above the mantle.
“The Duchess had this room redone last year,” he said. “She said it needed softening. It used to be all stone.”Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Selira stepped inside, glancing once toward the fire.
The battle-mage entered a moment later, soundless, and took his place near the far window. Still five steps. Always five steps.
Ronan didn’t notice.
Selira folded her hands calmly in front of her. Her eyes moved over the room without seeming to study it, just enough to learn.
She didn’t think about Ronan again. Not just now. Her thoughts returned to the courtyard. To the girl. Grace. She hadn’t expected it, the way the child carried herself. The silence, the poise, the exit. But it wasn’t Grace that worried her. It was her mother.
Duchess Liliana hadn’t attended the welcome, after their brief meeting in the citadel. But her presence had been stamped into the stone, in the guards, in the precision, in the cold stillness of the knights who had flanked the girl like pillars.
And the battle-mage on her side. Lady Elyne Marren. Her governess. Selira’s steward had whispered the name quietly into her ear during the procession.
She had felt the pressure from her. Briefly, but clearly.
Selira had made a mistake in not stepping in when Marissa spoke. And now that mistake belonged to her. She let none of it show.
She turned back toward Ronan with the same composed face and said what needed to be said.
“I’m grateful for the room,” she said softly. “It’s more than sufficient.”
Ronan smiled as if she’d praised him personally. “I’m glad. If you need anything, just ask. The estate staff reports directly to me.”
That, she was almost certain, was a lie he believed.
But she smiled anyway.
Ronan looked pleased with himself, more than pleased. He stood straighter now, as if her simple thank-you had confirmed something he’d been quietly hoping.
Selira didn’t correct him. She simply folded her hands in front of her and allowed the moment to pass.
“I’ll leave you to settle in,” he said, gesturing slightly toward the fireplace. “The banquet will begin at dusk. It’s in your honor, of course.”
He smiled, and she returned it with a small nod. “I’m honored.”
“I’ll send for you when it’s time.”
She inclined her head. “Of course.”
And then he was gone, stepping out with that same confident posture, the doors closing softly behind him. The echo of his boots faded a moment later.
The room quieted.
Selira stood still for several heartbeats, watching the flames flicker in the hearth, watching the shadows they cast along the stonework.
Then she exhaled, silent, steady.
Her mask didn’t slip. But it shifted.
She turned.
Her three companions had entered behind her once the knights had cleared the hall, stepping past the threshold like children finally allowed into a forbidden room. Their cloaks were already off, arms unwrapped, hair being shaken free from the wind. Marissa, of course, moved first, striding into the center like she owned it.
“This place is massive,” said Angela of House Veylor, her eyes wide. “Did you see the windows on the garden side? You could stage a festival in just the corridor.”
“I thought it would be cold and empty,” said Kristin of House Halwyn, twirling a strand of hair. “But it’s beautiful. Grim, but beautiful.”
Marissa gave a dramatic sigh and flopped into one of the sitting chairs like a noblewoman twice her age.
“Everything’s too perfect,” she said. “Even the knights look like statues. It's impressive, yes, but it feels like they’ve all forgotten how to smile.”
She didn’t say Grace’s name. She didn’t need to. Selira turned fully now, slowly, her back straight.
Both girls looked at her immediately, the air shifted the moment she moved.
“Marissa,” she said quietly.
The girl stopped mid-motion.
“I will speak plainly, because I know you, and I know how far you are from home.” Her voice didn’t rise.
“You humiliated me.”
Marissa blinked. “What?”
“You spoke without restraint,” Selira continued. “In front of nobles, knights, and representatives of a duchess who was not present, and you insulted her only child. During a state welcome.”
“I didn’t—” Marissa started, but her voice faltered under the calm stillness in Selira’s eyes.
“You did,” Selira said. “And the child, as you so helpfully labeled her, left with six knights and a war-mage at her back, and did not look at you once.”
No one else spoke. Even the fire seemed quieter. Selira’s voice didn’t lose its shape.
“You will not speak at the banquet unless you are spoken to. You will not interrupt. You will not mention Lady Grace unless I give you permission.”
Marissa’s face had paled slightly. She swallowed, but nodded.
“Yes, Lady Selira.”
The other two girls remained silent. Selira turned her gaze back to the fire. That was the first mistake. She wouldn’t allow another.
--::--
Grace had excused herself again.
For preparations for the banquet, she said.
Elyne hadn’t followed this time. No one had. She had dismissed even the knights with a single look. They waited all outside her private chambers.
The stairs to the lower levels were narrow and old. The kind of cold that lived in stone seeped into the air here, different from courtyard frost. This cold was silent.
The dungeon chamber was small. One torch burned in the wall sconce. The rest was shadow.
She sat on a chair at the center, legs crossed neatly, her back straight.
Leon lay curled on the floor three paces in front of her, arms bound behind him, face bruised where a guard had been careless. Or not.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t speak for a long time.
Just watched him.
Her eyes shimmered in the low light, not blue. Not now. Pink. Soft at the edges. Luminous.
Not the color of joy.
Leon stirred. He looked up at her, and for the first time since he had been dragged here, he didn’t speak.
He looked afraid.
Grace tilted her head slightly. “You’re very quiet today, Leon.”
No answer.
She smiled. It didn’t reach anything. “That’s not like you.”
She uncrossed her legs, slowly, and leaned forward.
“I thought about hurting you again,” she said. Not angry. Not cruel. Just… thoughtful. “But I didn’t. Because I was afraid it would ruin the game.”
She let that word linger.
Game.
Leon’s mouth trembled, but he said nothing.
“You were useful, in a way,” Grace continued. “A little toy to twist and wind. A place to focus the part of me that can’t speak in front of the others”
She leaned back again.
“But today… that bitch in green.” Her voice broke its rhythm for the first time, a ripple of venom under still waters. “She looked at me like I wasn’t real. Like I was some dressed-up doll. And Ronan,” her lip curled, “Ronan smiled.”
Her hand twitched. Just once. Not toward Leon.
Toward herself.
“And I needed to remind myself that I can end things. That I’m not powerless. That even if they forget, I don’t.”
Leon flinched as she stood.
She stepped around him, slow, measured. Her footsteps barely made sound against the stone.
“You were my entertainment,” she whispered. “But now I think you’re just a distraction… you distracted me, Leon… Just help me to remind myself, that I can end things…”
She paused behind him.
Her breath was quiet.
Then the air changed.
It didn’t shift, it condensed.
Grace reached for her core. Her spine straightened as the mana pulsed up through her chest, spiraling behind her eyes in violet threads.
She raised one hand, slow and steady, and spoke.
ᚹᛖᛁᛚᛋᛁᚷᚱ ᛋᚺᚨᛏᛏᛖᚱ. (Void shatter)
The words didn’t echo. They clung to the air like oil.
Leon gasped, not from pain, not yet, but from instinct. Something in his blood recognized those syllables, even if his mind didn’t.
A thin line of light shimmered across his right shoulder. At first, it looked like a shallow cut, neat, precise.
Then the flesh beneath it began to unravel.
Not tear. Not rot. Just… unmake.
Like a thread being pulled out of existence.
Pink and purple light curled from the edges of the wound, dancing like smoke. The scent was wrong — not blood, not fire — but something colder. Hollow.
Leon’s breath hitched. He looked down at the wound as the skin dissolved, then the muscle.
And then the thought came.
Void mana.
His eyes widened. Then the pain hit.
And his mind fractured under it. It wasn’t burning. It wasn’t slicing. It wasn’t anything human.
There was no shape to it.
Just white. White heat. White sound. White agony.
Thought fell apart. His name fell apart.
All that was left was—
Nothing.
Grace lowered her hand.
“I feel better now,” she said.
And left.
--::--
The door shut behind her. Stone sealed sound. She was gone.
But the air did not settle. It remained heavy, distorted. The room still held her magic like a bruise held heat.
Corax drifted from the rafters.
He did not flap. He did not fall. He slid downward through silence, weightless, a single orb of dimming light and folding smoke.
Once, he had been clear. A smooth sphere of Veil-born brilliance. Now violet streaked through him like cracks in old glass, his glow flickered, uncertain, as though remembering what it had once been.
He had seen everything.
Not because he had to. Because he could not turn away.
He hovered over the boy’s body, Leon, limp and scorched, still breathing. Barely.
She hadn’t killed him.
Strange. She had been close. Closer than ever before.
Corax extended a tendril of internal light. It glided across the air, touched the boy’s chest. No warmth. No kindness. Just correction.
The bleeding slowed. The flesh at the edge of the wound sealed. The boy gasped once, breath catching against pain. But the damage remained.
The void had taken the shoulder. And the void returned nothing.
Corax pulled back.
It wasn’t compassion. It was maintenance. She hadn’t told him to let it die.
His shape twisted as he turned. Smoke slipped from his edges. He hovered over the stone.
She had drawn from her core. Real magic. Structured. Refined. Pulled from the deepest current in Nyras.
A void core. Rare. Reviled. Feared. But not unique.
That did not concern him.
What did was the way her eyes had looked. Not glowing with power. But watching.
And something behind them had watched with her.
Not the void. Not the girl. Something else.
He had felt it again.
Not during the spell. Before. Just as she stood.
Something inside her had smiled.
A presence. Rooted where soul met silence. From the In-Between. From the layer between spirit and nothing, where names went to forget themselves.
Not bound to her. But wrapped around her. Like rot around a root.
It had chosen her.
And that was worse than any core.
Corax hovered in place.
He did not sigh. He did not feel.
But something inside him, old and wordless, twisted.
Then he shifted. His orb darkened. The light faded to a single violet thread.
And he vanished, not into the hall, but into the Veil.
He would speak to the others.
Even bound, he could still whisper.
Because if he was right…
She would not need him for much longer.
And when that time came…
He would not survive her.