Page 154 of The Shattered Rite
“You're here. So fast. So soon after.” Her voice cracked. “Did you know?”
“Gods, no—Dragonblood, of course not.”
She couldn't tell if his words were lies or truths and didn't have her eyes to help inform her.
“Then why are you here?” Her breathing spiraled. “Right now. In this hall. So soon after he—after Silas—”
“Because I was walking,” Whitvale snapped, his usual polish cracking. “I heard nothing. I have no idea how you could have been attacked that quickly and quietly in the halls so close to the King.”
Something shifted.
Eliryn’s skin prickled, and Vaeronth’s voice surged in her mind—low, grim, certain.
Something is wrong. Be ready.
Then—footsteps. Heavy. Sharp.
Two guards rounded the corner.
Eliryn strained her hearing, helpless. Her hands clenched.
Vaeronth spoke, calm but alert.Two men. Royal sigils. Left guard: taller, squared jaw. Right guard: young. Nervous.
She heard their pause.
“That’s the dragonrider,” the younger guard breathed. He sounded too young for this.
“Gods,” the other muttered. Then, louder, “What’s happened here?”
“She’s injured. Disoriented,” Whitvale said tightly.
“I—someone attacked us,” she rasped.
Pause. Tight silence. Then—
“What happened?” the older guard demanded.
Eliryn fought to form the words. “I didn’t see—I couldn’t see. My sight is gone. And Silas—Silas was with me, but someone… someone killed him. I felt him… I felt him die.”
The name hit like steel.
“Silas?” One of the guards echoed. “Silas Caelen?”
“Yes. I think…” Her voice was a whisper. "I only knew him as Silas; he's been my guard since the beginning of the trials."
Vaeronth murmured as the silence stretched.Left guard stiffened. Right is shocked. Voice caught in his throat. They believe you. And I believe they knew Silas.
“Where?” the older guard snapped.
Eliryn lifted her shaking, blood-caked hand. She tried to point. Failed. Finally, she just gestured helplessly. “Behind me.”
“Gods above.” The older guard’s voice cracked. Then to his partner: “Go. Lock down the North Wing. Alert the Commander. Find who did this.”
His partner bolted.
He’s scared,Vaeronth told her.The guard is pulling a rune-disc from his belt. There's a thick blue light emitting from it.
“Containment protocols activated,” he muttered.
