Brute 264

Chapter 264 

Atasha’s POV 

“Your Highness, you do not have to do this,” Grace said again, her grip steady at my elbow as we moved down the corridor. “You have only just woken. Your body may feel stable, but that does not mean it is ready.” 

“I know my body,” I replied, keeping my voice level even as a faint ache pulsed beneath my ribs with every step. “If I were not able to walk, I would not be here.” 

She did not argue further, but her concern showed in the way she adjusted her pace to match mine, guiding me carefully along the polished stone floor. The corridor stretched ahead of us, wide and high–ceilinged, lined with tall pillars carved with sigils I did not recognize. This place carried authority in its bones, the kind that did not need walls built for war because it expected obedience instead. 

Grace slowed when she felt my steps falter, her hand tightening briefly in silent support. “You still need rest,” she said quietly. “At least until-” 

Two guards stepped into our path before she could finish. 

They wore the crest of Arecor on their armor, dark metal etched with gold lines that marked rank and command. Their spears crossed smoothly, blocking the corridor with practiced ease. 

“No one is permitted beyond this point,” one of them said. His tone was respectful, but firm enough that it left no room for negotiation. “This wing is restricted by order of the Alpha King.” 

Grace inhaled slowly beside me, her shoulders stiffening. She turned slightly toward me and lowered her voice. “Your Highness, please. You need to rest. Whatever this is, it can wait.” 

I clenched my teeth, my jaw tightening as frustration flared hot in my chest. Rest felt like an insult after everything that had happened. Rest felt like turning away when there were answers still buried under blood and bodies and spells that had not finished echoing through the land. 

How could I rest, knowing what we had seen? 

My mind drifted back to what Grace had told me earlier, the details she had tried to soften, but could not hide. The beast tide had not been natural. It had not been a coincidence of poison and monsters and timing. It had been triggered. 

By the witch. 

They did not yet know how he had done it, only that the magic bore the unmistakable signs of ritual work on a massive scale. A spell like that did not exist without sacrifice. It required blood in quantity, lives offered again and again until the magic reached critical mass. 

That realization settled heavily in my chest. 

Which meant there had been many victims long before Nightfall burned. 

Witches could not create something like a beast tide without feeding it, and the land had answered because it had been forced to. Villages lost in the south. Missing patrols and reports of entire families found slaughtered without signs of beasts nearby. I had heard those stories in passing before, dismissed them as distant tragedies tied to border instability. 

Now, they formed a pattern I could not ignore. 

And I was part of that pattern. 

Not because I had caused it directly, but because my presence had accelerated everything. Every confrontation I survived. every enemy I forced into desperation, every faction pushed into a corner because of me had contributed to the chaos 

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Chapter 264 

spreading through the south. I was not foolish enough to believe otherwise. 

Grace had told me the rest in a low voice while I drank my water. 

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When Cassian killed the witch, they believed that had been the final sacrifice. The spell had not unraveled because it had already reached completion. The witch had offered his own life to seal it, using death as the final anchor to lock the magic in place. 

It had worked. 

The thought made my stomach turn. 

I steadied myself and lifted my gaze to the guards, ignoring Grace’s quiet intake of breath beside me. 

“I am Atasha Valemont,” I said. “I am the Northern Consort, and I request an audience with the Alpha King of Arecor.” 

The guards exchanged a brief glance, their expressions shifting into something uneasy. One of them opened his mouth, likely to refuse again, when a familiar voice cut through the corridor behind us. 

“It has been a long time, Your Highness.” 

I turned. 

Lady Kenneth stood several paces away, her posture relaxed, her attire elegant without being excessive. Her gaze moved from me to Grace and back again, sharp enough to miss nothing. 

I inclined my head slightly. “Lady Kenneth.” 

She smiled. “The King is currently occupied,” she said smoothly. “He is overseeing a matter that will determine the future of this territory, and interruptions are not permitted.” 

I did not respond immediately, my fingers curling faintly at my side. 

“However…” Lady Kenneth continued. “There is no need to worry. I believe I can assist you with what you are seeking, at least until His Majesty is available.” 

Lady Kenneth did not linger in the corridor after that. She offered no explanation to the guards beyond a small glance. Grace stayed close as we followed Lady Kenneth through a different passage, one that veered away from the restricted wing and toward a quieter part of the estate where the air changed, cooler and scented with damp soil and crushed leaves. 

By the time we reached the gardens, my pulse had steadied enough to notice details that I had missed earlier. The capital’s estate was not built like Nightfall, where every corridor felt like it had been designed to trap an intruder. This place was open in ways that looked careless at first glance, yet the guards were everywhere, positioned with the ease of people who did not expect to lose. 

Lady Kenneth guided me to a stone path lined with flowerbeds, the plants arranged with intentional patterns that drew the eye toward a circular pavilion ahead. Hanging lanterns swayed gently despite the lack of wind, their light turning the garden into a soft glow of green and silver. 

“These,” Lady Kenneth said as we passed a cluster of pale buds. “Are Moonsong Lillies, and those near the fountain are Crescent–Veil Blooms, but the ones you are looking at now are called Fullmoon Wakes.” 

I glanced down. The petals were closed tight, pale and almost translucent, as if they were holding their color in reserve. 

“They bloom in darkness,” she continued. “And they open fully during a full moon, so the garden looks like it has been covered in white fire. It is a tradition here. The King prefers them.” 

I did not comment, but I filed the detail away. Everything in a place like this carried meaning, even flowers. 

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Chapter 264 

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A small table had already been prepared beneath the pavilion, set with a teapot that released steam into the cool air and two cups positioned as if this meeting had been expected. Lady Kenneth took her seat. I sat across from her, keeping my posture steady even as my body still carried the drag of healing too much and waking too soon. Grace remained behind me, as she always did, positioned close enough to intervene and far enough not to look like a threat. 

Lady Kenneth poured the tea herself and smiled faintly as she looked past me toward Grace. “Is this necessary, Your Highness?” she asked, her tone mild, but not careless. “We are not enemies.” 

“I am not familiar with the capital,” I replied, keeping my voice even. “Cassian assigned Grace to remain with me and assist me with everything I need, and I intend to respect his judgment.” 

Lady Kenneth’s gaze held mine for a moment, as if weighing whether I meant that as an explanation or a warning. Then she nodded once, accepting it without argument. 

“What I am about to say is not new to this palace,” she said as she set the teapot down. “It is not new to the people who have served here long enough, and it is not new to the ones who sit above ús, whether they admit it openly or not.” 

I lifted my chin slightly, giving her a single gesture that told her I was listening and that I was not interested in being led in circles. 

Grace shifted behind me, and then she took a controlled step back. She moved far enough that she would not catch our words, but not so far that she could not reach me quickly if something changed. Her hand stayed close to her weapon, and her eyes never stopped scanning the garden’s edges. 

Lady Kenneth watched her reposition with a calmness that suggested she had expected it. “You do not need to worry about overhearing,” she said as her fingers brushed the edge of the table where a small stone sat half–hidden beside the tray. 

It was not large, no bigger than the top of a ring box, but the surface carried a faint sheen that looked like moonlight trapped under glass. 

“A fae stone,” Lady Kenneth explained, her fingers brushing the small object beside the tea set. “It is old, rare, and costly, which is precisely why this garden remains a place for conversations rather than rumors. Within five feet of this table, sound does not travel the way it should. Anyone standing beyond that boundary will hear nothing we say, even if they are close enough to reach out and touch you.” 

I glanced at the stone briefly, then met her gaze again. Yet, I said nothing. Instead, I waited for her to say a word. Seeing this, she smiled. “I knew I would see you again, Atasha Valemont. I simply did not expect it to happen so soon.” 

My fingers curled around the cup as the warmth of the tea seeped into my palms. “This was not my choice.” 

Lady Kenneth’s expression softened, but the change did not reach her eyes. “That is understandable,” she said, her voice measured. “And I can clearly sense that you do not like me, which is also understandable considering what happened between us, and considering the way history tends to repeat itself in this kingdom.” 

I did not bother denying it. I took a slow sip of tea, letting the heat settle the dryness in my throat, and watched her over the rim of the cup. Silence stretched for a few more seconds and Lady Kenneth did not flinch under it. She simply waited until 1 lowered the cup. 

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