Chapter 13: The Test of Silence
The palace steward summoned Alaida at dusk.
She was led through unfamiliar halls, past guards who didn't bow, into a chamber lined with scrolls and cold stone. Lord Viremont waited there, flanked by two advisors in robes dark as judgment.
Thalion was not present.
"You've stirred the court," Viremont said, voice smooth as oil. "The servants speak of you. The garden blooms. The king listens."
Alaida said nothing.
He stepped closer. "We must know what you are."
"I'm Alaida," she replied softly.
"A name is not proof."
He gestured, and one of the advisors brought forth a relic—a shard of obsidian etched with runes. It pulsed faintly, as if sensing something.
"Touch it," Viremont said.
Alaida hesitated. "What does it do?"
"It reveals truth."
She reached out, fingers trembling, and touched the stone.
It flared—not violently, but gently. A soft glow spread from her hand, pale and silver, like moonlight on water. The advisors gasped. Viremont stepped back.
"She carries the old magic," one whispered.
Viremont's eyes narrowed. "Then she is dangerous."
---
Thalion entered moments later, his cloak billowing like storm clouds.
"What have you done?" he demanded.
"She was tested," Viremont said. "She glowed."
Thalion turned to Alaida. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "Just seen."
Thalion faced the council. "She is under my protection. Any further tests will be considered treason."
Viremont bowed, but his eyes burned.
As Alaida left the chamber, Thalion walked beside her in silence.
"You didn't know?" she asked.
"I suspected," he said. "But I didn't want it to be true."
"Why?"
"Because magic changes everything."
She looked up at him, her voice barely a whisper. "Then let it change you."