Draven stepped away from the hall, slow and quiet. No real destination in mind. He just needed space. Not out of discomfort not exactly. Just... irritation.
Celebrations like this were pointless noise. Loud, messy, All glitter and forced smiles.
Nothing about it was peaceful.
It was just another show. Each realm playing pretend. Toasting to unity while keeping knives behind their backs, they didn't come for peace. They came for position, for leverage, for power.
No one walked away from the Alliance because they all knew what it would cost.
So they stayed. Lied. Smiled. Played nice.
He hated it.
Alliance. What a fragile word.
He adjusted his gloves with a quiet snap his fingers steady. His eyes flicked across the corridor, calculating. He turned to keep walking when a sound stopped him. Soft and quick very easy to miss if one wasn't paying enough attention.
Too light to be anything serious. A child maybe, probably sneaking off to steal food or hide from mischievous so called friends.
But then he saw them. Two figures, slipping through a side door like they didn't want to be seen.
They were clumsy, careless and very unintentional. Draven narrowed his eyes.
Mischievous fellas, they were probably up to no good. He tilted his head slightly, mind already pulling at threads. Where were they headed?"
He waited Stilled Quiet Watching.
At first, he didn't care.
He saw them and kept walking. Two kids sneaking off? Whatever. Let them run around in the dark and get themselves in trouble.
But then... something tugged at him.
A flick. A spark.
Bounce.
His power, always stretching without asking, had brushed past the girl. And hit something. Hard.
He stopped. Just stood there for a second, blinking slow.
That wasn't normal.
His power didn't get blocked. It didn't bounce. Not unless it was something dangerous, or... trained.
Or broken in just the right way.
He narrowed his eyes, head tilting a little. She was still running, pulled by the guy like he knew where he was going. He didn't.
But that girl there was a wall inside her. Something tight, closed off. Solid. And it pushed him out.
That shouldn't happen.
He wasn't curious. Curiosity was for children and fools. But... he noticed. That was different.
They took the corner fast, footsteps echoing. Wrong direction. He could tell they didn't know where they were headed.
And then, right when they were about to veer off into a dead end, the boy changed course. Quick. Smooth. Like he knew the layout. Like he'd always meant to go that way.
He hadn't.
Draven smiled. Just a little. No joy in it. Just... confirmation.
The thought was his he had Slipped into the boy's head like a suggestion he thought he made himself.
There's a side path with No guards, Safer and Quieter.
He would never know the idea wasn't his. Draven watched them vanish down the shadowed corridor. They were going to the archive it seems.
Something interesting in this boring evening something to keep him busy and entertained.
Still, it wasn't the boy that mattered, It was the girl. That bounce that inner wall that was like a shield to her mind. That barrier.
She had something, Something strange, Something dangerous.
Draven's eyes narrowed. He could twist the guy's thoughts easy pull him left, right, make him second-guess himself. But the girl… nah. She was a wall. Solid. Thick with something inside that shut him out no matter how hard he pushed, He hated that.
"Funny isn't it?" he muttered, walking behind them, steps quiet, face half in shadow. He stayed back, out of sight, watching.
He figured they'd give up once they saw the archive door locked up tight. Most do. The two of them argued a little, but then she stepped forward as if to show him it was truly locked.
Click. Just like that it opened.
Draven blinked. He was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, like he had all day. But now he pushed off, slow. Straightened up.
A scoff slid out of him. Then a low, rough chuckle, barely a laugh. Like the kind that knows exactly how dumb it all is.
"Oh, would you look at that," he said, voice low, like gravel catching in his throat.
Draven walked past the grand hall, slow and quiet, like he didn't care much for the noise. The celebration was done, guests peeling off into their rooms. A few still lingered, acting like guards or just pretending not to be nervous.
There hadn't been any announcement yet. But the air felt tight. People were starting to feel it like something was wrong.
"What do you think is going on?" Leo Qadir asked, voice low like he didn't wanna be heard.
"I was right here with you, Leo. I don't know. I'm just as lost," Malachi Tydros shot back, tired and maybe a little on edge.
Draven didn't stop walking. He didn't look at them either. Just kept moving past the edge of their little group, like he was heading somewhere important, or maybe nowhere at all.
"Draven."
The voice cut through. Liliana. She had seen him. Somehow always did. Her eyes were sharper than the others. He didn't like that.
They were all standing close to the meeting hall doors, probably waiting on someone parents, chiefs, guardians… whatever roles the old people played in their lives.
He paused for half a breath, just enough to let her know he heard. But he didn't turn around.
All four pairs of eyes landed on him. Watching. Like they were waiting for him to confirm something they already feared, or maybe didn't wanna hear out loud.
Draven didn't give them anything.
He looked at Liliana instead. Just raised a brow, like he was the one who should be asking her why she bothered stopping him. He said nothing he didn't need to. The silence did more.
"I heard someone broke into the archive," she said, voice tight but too smooth, like she rehearsed it. "Is it true? That's why everyone's so—"
He didn't let her finish.
"Do I look like I run updates for the media team?" he cut in, voice low and flat with a hit of sarcasm that hit just right. Not angry. Just tired. Like he'd already left the conversation before it began.
It hit her wrong. She blinked, thrown off.
"What—?" Her voice cracked a little. She fixed her face fast, straightened her words like she didn't want the others to see the stumble.
But he noticed.
Of course he did.
Whatever her father or his thought they were planning behind closed doors about some marriage alliance they could bury it. Over his cold, burned body. Not gonna happen. Not with her. Not with anyone. He walked past her without another word.
The girl was too ahead of herself for her own damn good. Thought she knew more than she did, acted like she was already ten steps past everyone else. That kind he hated most. The stupid ones, the loud ones, the ones too sure of things they barely understood.
He could deal with rude. Hell, he was worse.
But overconfident?
That just made people sloppy, Easy to break. And he didn't like breaking things that already came cracked.
"Damn, he's… he's like a knife. Cuts deep, don't even look sharp till you're already bleeding," Leo said, his voice smooth, like it always was. That half-smirk barely moved. Too relaxed for the tension hanging in the air. Like none of it really touched him.
Camilla was off to the left. Arms crossed, eyes shut, like she wasn't part of the conversation and didn't plan to be. Her body looked calm. Too calm. Not stiff like the rest of them. No tension in the shoulders, no twitch in the jaw. Just... stillness.
Leo glanced her way not in that look way. Not like that. Just… curious.
She didn't give off the kind of vibe you messed with. Her back was against the wall, head tilted like she was somewhere else in her mind, fingers tapping lightly on her arm like a metronome only she could hear.
Yeah, nah. She wasn't looking to be social. He got that. Still she stood out. Cool in a room full of noise. He could respect that.
Camilla was known. Not the loud kind of known the kind you whisper about when she walks past. Everyone in the realm knew her name, and more importantly, they knew not to try her. She didn't raise her voice. Didn't need to.
She stood there, arms still crossed, head back against the wall like she was resting, like the drama unfolding in front of them barely existed in her world. She wasn't cold exactly. Just… somewhere else.
The door creaked open.
A woman stumbled out, hands bound, flanked by two guards dragging her like dead weight. Her head hung low at first. Limp But when she got close, she looked up very slowly and smiled.
Not the scary kind not angry either. It was the kind of smile that said I see you. The kind that made the hair on your arms stand up even if you didn't know why.
Then she was gone. Pulled past them down the corridor, boots scraping, the echo of her laugh or maybe that was just in someone's head fading behind her.
Camilla didn't move, she didn't flinch. Her fingers still tapped that rhythm on her arm steadily like she was bored.