đ Chapter 76 â The Crown Watches All
The palace wore silence like a second skin.
Every hallway, every chamber, every whisperâcarefully measured, weighed, and watched.
Zara sat upright on her bed, even in weakness, a thin blanket across her lap and her son beside her. He slept peacefully, unaware that the world outside his dreams teetered on the edge of collapse.
Zaire stood by the window, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the courtyard below. Leva paced by the door. Malric sharpened a blade near the hearth.
No one spoke.
Zara broke the silence.
"We're not hunting shadows anymore. They're inside. And they want us afraid."
She looked at Leva.
"Is the maid still being questioned?"
Leva nodded. "She gave everything she knew. She's clean. But terrified."
"She should be," Malric muttered. "She nearly served the queen poison."
"No," Zara corrected. "She nearly served *my son* poison."
---
Later that morning, Zara gathered her personal circle in a secluded chamber below the archives.
Only Zaire, Leva, Malric, and Auren.
The air smelled of dust and old secrets.
Zara stood with the help of a cane, refusing to be wheeled in or carried.
"If the Hollow is inside the palace," she began, "we cannot trust the guards. We cannot trust the kitchen. And we certainly cannot trust the Council."
Auren leaned forward. "So what do you propose?"
"We don't flush them out," Zara said. "We let them think they've won."
Zaire raised a brow. "You want to bait them again?"
"No. I want to *lie to them*. Let them hear me planning to send the child away. Spread a false route. A fake convoy. Announce it to the Council in public."
"And when they strike?" Leva asked.
Zara's eyes hardened.
"We follow the blade back to its hand."
---
The plan moved fast.
That evening, Zara summoned the Royal Council to the throne room.
She wore a deep emerald gown and jewels that hadn't touched her skin since the coronation. Her eyes were rimmed with kohl. Her voice steady. Her expression unreadable.
"I've made a decision," she said.
The councilmen watched, some nervous, others eager.
"The child will not be raised inside the palace. It is no longer safe. He will be escorted to the Hillfort of Nyros tomorrow night. A convoy of three carriages. Zaire will ride ahead. Leva behind."
Gasps.
Murmurs.
The High Scribe stepped forward. "Your Grace, with respectâHillfort Nyros was struck by plague last winterâ"
"It is clean now," Zara lied.
"The Raven's menâ"
"Will be fed a map drawn by our own hands."
Zara ended the meeting with a bow of her head.
"Dismissed."
As they filed out, she watched their faces.
One lingered just a moment too long.
**Lord Renald.**
Thin. Quiet. Always writing.
He nodded politely⊠but his eyes flickered toward her child.
Just a second too long.
---
That night, Leva followed him.
Not openly.
She moved like a shadow through stone halls and wine cellars.
Renald didn't go to his chamber.
He went to the lower archives.
And met someone.
Not another councilman.
A **servant**.
They spoke in hushed tones.
Leva couldn't catch the wordsâonly one phrase.
> "She'll be in the third carriage."
---
The trap was set.
The next night, three carriages rolled out of the palace gates beneath the moonlight.
Zaire led the front guard.
Leva flanked the last.
But none of them carried Zara's son.
The baby slept soundly in the queen's private chamberâprotected by Auren and two guards who had served since Zara's father's reign.
The third carriage?
Empty.
But not unguarded.
Inside it, hidden in the floorboards, was **Malric**.
Sword drawn.
Waiting.
---
Two hours into the journey, just past the redwood trailâŠ
The attack came.
Quick. Silent.
A rain of arrows firstâthen a group of riders dressed as bandits.
They swarmed the third carriage.
One jumped aboard and opened the door.
Saw nothing.
Too late.
Malric's blade caught him in the throat before he could scream.
The others charged.
Zaire's forces closed in.
The fight was brief.
Only two survived.
One servant.
And one soldier⊠wearing **the sigil of the palace kitchens** beneath his armor.
---
By dawn, Zara had the two prisoners chained in the council chamber.
Both bruised. Bleeding.
She didn't scream.
She didn't raise her voice.
She simply placed a dagger on the table.
And whispered,
"Speak."
The servant broke first.
"It was Renald!" he sobbed. "He gave us the orders! He said the child would be unguardedâhe said we'd be rewarded by the Ravenâ"
The soldier didn't speak.
He only stared.
Until Zara said his name.
"Calen."
He blinked.
"How do youâ?"
"You served my father," she said. "You carried his sword when he died."
He looked away.
Zara stepped closer.
"Why betray us now?"
"Because your father broke his promises," Calen growled. "And now his daughter wears a crown of blood."
Leva moved to strike him.
Zara raised a hand.
"No. Let him see what justice looks like."
---
Renald was arrested by mid-morning.
No trial.
No jury.
Only the truth.
He didn't deny it.
He didn't plead.
He simply looked at Zara and said,
> "You will not survive long. Even queens bleed."
Zara nodded.
Then leaned in.
"So do cowards."
---
That evening, Zaire carried the baby into Zara's arms.
The child cooed, his tiny fingers reaching up toward her mouth.
Zara kissed his hand.
"He needs a name," she said softly.
Leva sat by the window. "Then give him one."
Zara thought for a long time.
Then whispered,
> "Kaelen."
Malric raised an eyebrow. "After your great-grandfather?"
"No," she said.
"After the man who reminded me what betrayal looks like."
Zaire smiled.
"May Kaelen never forget who he is."
Zara looked out at the stars.
"And may the Raven never see him coming."