Elara's POV
"Absolutely not," Cassian says flatly. "She's not going anywhere near the High Priestess."
"Your Highness, she was very insistent—"
"I don't care." Cassian's voice could freeze fire. "Tell Morgana I'll meet with her tomorrow. Alone."
Dorian looks like he wants to argue but knows better. "As you wish." He bows and leaves.
The moment the door closes, I round on Cassian.
"The High Priestess knows about me."
"Apparently."
"How? I've been so careful. Nobody knows I remember except—" I stop. "You. You're the only one I've told."
His eyes flash. "I didn't tell her. I wouldn't."
"Then how does she know?"
"I don't know. But Morgana has ways of discovering secrets." He starts pacing. "This is bad. If she knows you're a memory keeper, she might be involved in whatever is happening."
"The High Priestess? She's supposed to protect the moon magic."
"She's supposed to. Doesn't mean she does." He stops pacing and looks at me. "We need to move fast. The fake engagement needs to happen now. Tonight."
"What? You said we'd start tomorrow—"
"That was before someone got erased from existence. Before the High Priestess summoned you." His voice is urgent. "If we announce the engagement immediately, you'll be under my protection. She can't touch you without going through me first."
My head is spinning. "This is happening too fast."
"We don't have time for slow." He crosses to me. "Elara, listen to me. People are disappearing. The resets are being weaponized. And someone powerful enough to corrupt moon magic knows you exist. You're in immediate danger."
"I know that!" The words come out harsher than I intended. "I've been in danger for five years. I've survived this long by being invisible. And now you want me to become the most visible person in the kingdom by pretending to be engaged to the Crown Prince?"
"Yes. Because right now, invisible means vulnerable." His eyes are intense. "As my fiancée, you'll have protection, resources, access. You'll be safer in the palace than anywhere else."
"Or I'll be trapped in a cage with my enemies all around me."
"Then we fight them together." He moves closer. "You said you have someone else who needs protection. Another memory keeper. Who is it?"
I hesitate. This is it. The moment I tell him about Iris, there's no going back.
But he's right. We're running out of time.
"My daughter," I say quietly.
Cassian goes completely still. "You have a daughter?"
I nod. "She's four years old. She's hidden in the Forgotten Quarter because she remembers the resets too."
"A child memory keeper." He leans back against the table, processing. "That's... I've never heard of a child having the curse."
"She's more than that. She has visions. She sees things that haven't happened yet." My voice shakes. "She's been having nightmares about a white temple collapsing. About everyone being trapped in endless resets. And I think—I think she's seeing what's coming."
Cassian's face has gone pale. "If whoever is behind this finds out about her—"
"They'll kill her. Or worse—they'll use her." I wrap my arms around myself. "That's my condition. I'll pretend to be your fiancée. I'll help you investigate. But you have to protect my daughter. Keep her safe. Keep her hidden."
"Where's her father?"
The question catches me off guard. "What?"
"Her father. Where is he? Can he protect her?"
I look away. "Gone. It was... complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"It was five years ago. During a reset. I was breaking down from the isolation, and I met someone who seemed to remember like I did. We spent one night together, and then he was gone. I never saw him again."
I don't tell him that I barely remember that night. That the moon magic blurred the man's face in my memory, leaving only impressions. Warmth. Understanding. Dark, sad eyes.
Cassian is quiet for a long moment.
"I'll protect them both," he finally says. "You and your daughter. I swear it."
"On what?"
"On my family's memory." His voice is rough. "On the twelve years I've spent trying to expose their killers. On everything I am. I will keep you both safe."
The vow settles over us like a weight.
"Then we have a deal," I say.
"We have a deal." He straightens. "I'll have my people move your daughter to a safe house tomorrow. Somewhere secure, with guards who don't ask questions."
"She'll be terrified. She doesn't know you. Doesn't know any of this."
"Then tell her." His voice softens. "Tell her you're doing this to protect her. Tell her it's temporary. Tell her whatever you need to."
I nod, though my heart is breaking at the thought of explaining this to a four-year-old.
"The engagement announcement will be made tomorrow morning," Cassian continues. "You'll move into the palace by tomorrow night. We'll start investigating immediately."
"What are we looking for?"
"Patterns. Connections. Anyone who benefits from memory keepers dying." He pulls out several journals. "I've documented every disappearance. Every reset murder. There has to be a link."
We spend the next hour going through his research. The names of seventeen dead memory keepers. The dates they vanished. The locations where they were last seen.
A pattern emerges.
"They're all connected to the temple," I realize, pointing at the notes. "Five of them were priestesses. Three worked in the temple archives. Two were temple guards."
"And the rest were regular people who happened to live near the temple district." Cassian's eyes narrow. "Someone with temple access is hunting memory keepers."
"The High Priestess?"
"Maybe. Or someone working for her." He closes the journal. "That's what we need to find out."
A clock chimes two in the morning.
"You should go," Cassian says. "Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be chaos once the announcement is made."
"Chaos is putting it mildly." I stand, exhaustion pulling at every muscle. "My ex-fiancé is going to lose his mind. My sister will probably try to have me committed again."
"Let them try. They can't touch you now." His voice is firm. "You're under my protection. Anyone who threatens you threatens the Crown."
The words should comfort me. Instead, they make me feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff.
I'm about to become engaged to the Crown Prince. The man who's supposed to kill me in thirty days.
What could possibly go wrong?
"Elara," Cassian says as I reach the door. "About your daughter. What's her name?"
"Iris."
Something flickers across his face. "Iris," he repeats softly. "I'll keep her safe. I promise."
I want to believe him. I need to believe him.
Because if I can't trust him, we're all already dead.