Before the courtiers gathered in the throne room that afternoon, Laheir had sent a servant to Nheera with a request that she meet him at her earliest convenience. If she agreed, this would be the first time they had spoken privately since their last major dispute, the one that had spiraled into something far uglier when she revealed her plans to marry Hairan off.

She despised that he believed he could make her regret her decision by involving his brother in their quarrel, and she had already vowed to make him suffer for it. But that particular reckoning would have to wait. For now, she still needed him, needed his influence, his reach, his usefulness in her carefully constructed plan to secure the throne for her son and consolidate even more power for herself.

This was a game she had been playing for as long as she could remember, and she had become dangerously skilled at it. There was no rule she had not studied, no trick she had not mastered. She knew exactly how to bend each to her advantage, how to twist every situation until it served her purpose. And when she had taken everything she needed from this partnership, she would discard him without hesitation. The same fate awaited Aeron as well.

So, immediately after the king dismissed them and exited the throne room, Nheera made her way through the palace corridors to Laheir’s private quarters, where he spent most of his time when he was in the palace. But the moment she stepped inside, she halted.

It was not Laheir who awaited her. Instead, she found herself standing face to face with the very man she had been dreading to see again.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice sharp as she froze where she stood. "Who let you past the gates?"

Aeron scoffed, the sound laced with mockery. "I wasn’t aware that I am no longer permitted here. If that is the case, why were your guards practically tripping over themselves to let me in?"

"I was supposed to meet Laheir here," Nheera said, her tone tight with suspicion. "Where is he?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

She refused to believe Laheir would summon her only to orchestrate this, to trap her alone with his sadistic brother.

Aeron waved a dismissive hand, as though brushing her questions aside. "He had other matters to attend to so I told him to leave. My brother is a very busy man, after all. Unlike you, he can follow instructions." His lips curved faintly as he began to close the distance between them, step by step, while Nheera remained unmoving. "I wanted this time with you all to myself."

He drew closer, his presence pressing in on her like a tightening noose.

"When I was much younger, my tutors were always in awe of my mind, my reasoning, my approach to problem-solving. They said my mind was sharper than any boy my age." He stopped just short of her, close enough that she could see the unsettling calm in his eyes. "But no matter how wise I am, some things still manage to elude me. So tell me, why is Zeriel still sitting on that throne?"

"Are you aware of what you are asking me to do?" she asked, meeting his stare without flinching.

"I’m aware," Aeron replied coolly. "I was aware the first three times I asked you. And yet... he is still king."

This time, Nheera was the first to look away. She shook her head once, firm and resolute.

"No," she said, her voice edged with steel. "I will not do it."

"Will not..." Aeron repeated slowly, his tone dropping in a way that sent a chill crawling up the back of her neck. "Or cannot?"

She snapped her gaze back to him, her eyes blazing with irritation. There were days she questioned why she still endured his presence after all these years. No words could adequately capture how deeply she loathed him. And yet, what she hated even more was the memory of her own foolishness, how she had once allowed herself to fall into his orbit, believing that he saw her as an equal. In truth, she had always been nothing more than a stepping stone for his greed and ambition.

"I will not," she said sharply, "because it would be a grave mistake to do what you are suggesting. Our allies are unreliable now. House Rycoff and House Nereth are at war. Gareth Alwen, that feeble-minded idiot, has been steadily withdrawing, growing less involved with our affairs. He is a loose end now, one that cannot be trusted. If we proceed under these conditions, we will stand alone."

But her words fell uselessly between them.

Aeron showed no sign that he was reconsidering.

"I don’t need allies to seize power from that spineless fool," he said, his voice unwavering. "I didn’t need allies when I built my guild from nothing, and I certainly don’t need them now."

"It is too soon," she pressed, even though she could already feel the futility of it. "If you rush this, you will destroy everything we have worked for."

Aeron let out a long, strained sigh, as though her resistance was nothing more than an inconvenience. He pinched the bridge of his nose briefly before lowering his hand.

"It hardly matters now, does it?" he murmured.

Nheera’s frown deepened, unease stirring.

"What do you mean?"

"Don’t play dumb, Nheera, my dear. It doesn’t suit you. But if you are so intent on acting oblivious, then I will tell you."

His voice carried a sharp edge. "Last night, one of my strongholds was attacked. The perpetrators slaughtered everyone and burned it to the ground when they were done. They hacked my assassins to pieces and left me to sift through charred remains. So you see, your concerns hardly matter to me after that. I would rather take control of the situation now than sit idly, waiting for the next attack."

Nheera continued to watch him in silence, her gaze fixed on his face as she tried, once again, to decipher the thoughts lurking behind his dark, impenetrable eyes. It was a futile effort.