The Heiress Carrying Chapter 114 - 115: The Corridor

Chapter 114: Chapter 115: The Corridor

Elara’s POV

The commotion brought

out of my chambers.

I had been sitting at my desk, reading through the water repair reports, trying to focus on numbers that kept blurring in front of my eyes. The night was quiet. The palace was settling into its usual evening rhythm. Then the scream ca. Sharp. Short. The kind of scream that did not belong in a palace.

I was on my feet before I knew I had moved. The door was open. The corridor was chaos.

Guards were everywhere, their hands on their swords, their voices overlapping. Soone was shouting orders. Soone else was running toward the east stairwell.

And Lena was pressed against the wall, the tray she had been carrying abandoned on the floor. Cups shattered. Tea pooled on the stones. Her face was white. Her hands were shaking. She looked like soone who had seen sothing she should not have seen.

"What happened?" I asked.

Lena looked at . Her voice was steady and deliberate. Choosing each word.

"The Voice ca back. He was in the corridor. Outside your chambers. In the dark. Unannounced. With no ssage sent ahead."

I felt sothing cold move through my chest. "He was here?"

"I scread because I did not know his intention." Lena paused. "A man who has already been inside the palace once. Who knows the layout. Who knows your routines. Who ca back in the dark without warning."

The guards were still moving around us, but I did not look at them. I looked at Lena.

"He could have been here to finish what he started," Lena said. "Or to start sothing new. I didn’t know which. I reacted."

I stood in the corridor and said nothing.

He ca back.

He ca back and now he’s gone and I don’t know why he ca.

I thought about the last ti I saw him. The mask coming off. His face. The council erupting. The night that followed in my chambers, the way he had held . I had given him a scarf to hide himself. I had watched him go and wondered if I would ever see him again.

Now he had co back. In the dark. Unannounced. And Lena had scread.

I looked at Lena. She was still pressed against the wall, her face still white, her hands still shaking. She looked like a woman who had done her duty. She looked like a woman who was afraid.

Lena was not wrong to have scread. A man appearing in a dark corridor outside the queen’s chambers without warning was exactly the kind of thing a loyal handmaid should react to.

But Lena knew who he was. She literally knew he was the father of my unborn child.Lena had looked at his face and scread anyway.

Which ant one of two things.

Either Lena’s loyalty to

was stronger than her understanding of what Kaelen and I were to each other.

Or Lena was sending a ssage. To him. To . To both.

I did not know which. And I could not ask directly without revealing how much I was protecting him.

I looked at Lena. She looked back at . Neither of us said what we were both thinking.

"Clear the corridor," I said to the guards. "I want a full report by morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

I turned and walked back into my chambers. The door closed behind .

I stood in the dark for a long mont.

The room was quiet. The candles had burned out. The fire was low. The only light ca from the moon through the window, pale and cold.

I walked to my desk. Sat down. Stared at the papers I had been reading before the scream.

He ca back.

He ca back and now he’s gone and I don’t know why he ca.

Why would Kaelen co to the palace in the dark without sending word ahead? He had a network inside. He had people who could deliver ssages. He had the cook, and the servants, and the eyes and ears he had written about. He could have sent a letter. He could have asked

to et him sowhere. He could have done anything other than walk into the palace unannounced.

Unless whatever he needed to tell

could not be written down. Unless it was too dangerous to trust to paper. Unless it was sothing he had to say with his own voice, face to face, with no mask between us.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall.

He ca back to . And now he’s gone. And I don’t know if he will try again.

I slept badly.

The night was long. Every ti I closed my eyes, I saw the corridor. Lena pressed against the wall. The tray on the floor. The tea pooling on the stones. The scream echoing through the halls.

Every ti I closed my eyes, I saw him. Kaelen, in the dark, coming to find . Kaelen, running, because soone had scread.

I woke early. The first light of morning was gray through the window. I had not slept more than a few hours.

The morning duties ca whether I was ready or not.

I dressed. I pinned my hair. I put on my crown. I walked to the council chamber. The day did not wait for

to figure out what had happened in the dark.

The council briefing was first. Corvus stood at the head of the table, going through the reports. The water repairs were on schedule. The grain accounting was moving forward. The petition review had uncovered three cases of letters that had been received and never answered. He was investigating.

I listened. I nodded. I asked the right questions. I moved through all of it with my usual careful competence.

But I was elsewhere. I was in the corridor. In the dark. Thinking about a man who ca back and ran.

Corvus was still speaking. Sothing about the budget. Sothing about the northern territories. I heard the words but did not absorb them.

Then he paused. He looked at . His face was careful, the way it always was when he was about to say sothing he knew I did not want to hear.

"Your Majesty," he said. "There was an incident in the east corridor last night. A guard reported movent. The description matches no one on staff."

He did not say Kaelen’s na. He did not have it yet. But he was close. I could see it in his eyes.

"Investigate," I said. "Thoroughly."

He nodded. He did not ask why I looked like I had not slept. He did not ask why my hands were shaking. He just nodded and made a note and moved on to the next item on the agenda.

I sat at the head of the table and thought about Kaelen, who had co back to my palace in the dark and ran when a door opened.

The day passed slowly.

More etings. More reports. More decisions. I signed papers. I approved requests. I listened to Petrov argue about sothing I had already decided. I listened to Corvus explain the water repair tiline. I listened to Lord Ashworth complain about the cost of the grain accounting.

I did all of it. I said the right words. I kept my face still. I did not let anyone see that I was sowhere else.

But I was sowhere else. I was in the corridor. In the dark. Thinking about a man who ca back and ran.

Evening ca. The etings ended. The advisors left. The servants cleared the tables. The palace settled into its usual quiet.

I went to my chambers. Closed the door. Stood in the dark for a mont.

Then I went to my bed. Lay down. Stared at the ceiling.

He ca back for a reason. He would not have co without a reason. Sothing has happened that he needed to tell

in person.

Whatever it is, it is still happening. Whether or not he reached .

He had co back. He had tried. He had failed.

Now it was my turn. I needed to find out what he knew. I needed to find out why he had co. I needed to find out who was watching, who was waiting, who was closing in.

I needed to find a way to reach him. Before it was too late.

I pressed my hand to my stomach. The child was still there. Growing. Waiting.

He ca back for a reason. And I am going to find out why.

The night stretched on. The room was dark. The palace was quiet.

I did not sleep. I lay in the dark and thought about a man who ca back and ran, and what that ant, and what I was going to do about it.

Morning would co. The day would begin again. The etings would happen. The papers would need signing. The decisions would need making.

But first, I needed to find a way to reach him. Before whoever was watching found him first.