The Heiress Carrying Chapter 32 - 33: The silence

Chapter 32: Chapter 33: The silence

Lena’s POV

Morning ca too quickly.

I woke in my small chamber, my body still aching from the bruises. For a mont, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, rembering what I’d seen in the dungeon.

The kiss.

Elara and Kaelen.

I’d barely slept after returning to my room. Had lain awake thinking about it. Turning it over in my mind. Trying to understand what it ant.

Now it was morning. And I had to face Elara like nothing had happened. Like I hadn’t seen anything.

I got up slowly. Washed my face. Dressed in my maid’s uniform. Made myself presentable.

Then I went through the connecting door into Elara’s chambers.

She was already awake. Sitting by the window. Still wearing the nightdress I’d helped her into yesterday.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," I said quietly.

She turned to look at . Her face was calm. Composed. "Good morning, Lena. No one is here Lena, call

Elara."

I expected sothing. A glow. A tremor in her voice. Guilt in her eyes. So sign of what had happened last night.

But she gave

nothing.

"Shall I help you dress?" I asked.

"Yes, please," she said.

She stood and walked to the wardrobe. I followed, already pulling out the clothes she would need for the day.

A simple dress. Nothing too formal. She wasn’t eting with the council today.

I helped her out of the nightdress. Into the underlayers. Into the dress.

She was quiet the whole ti. Controlled. Distant in a way that was deliberate.

This wasn’t the comfortable silence we usually shared. This was sothing else. Sothing careful.

"How are you feeling today?" I asked as I laced up the back of her dress.

"Better," she said. "Less tired."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough."

Short answers. Polite. But giving nothing away.

I finished the laces. Started on her hair. Brushing it out. Pinning it up in a simple style.

"And you?" she asked. "How are your bruises?"

"Healing," I said. "Still sore, but better than yesterday."

"I’m glad," she said.

More silence.

I kept waiting for her to ntion it. To say sothing about last night. About where she’d gone. What she’d done.

But she didn’t.

She didn’t ntion the dungeon.

Didn’t ntion Kaelen.

Didn’t ntion leaving her room at all.

And that unsettled

more than any confession would have.

If she’d told , if she’d confided in , I would have known what to do. How to react. How to help.

But this silence? This deliberate control?

It felt like a wall between us. One I didn’t know how to climb.

I finished her hair. Stepped back. "There. All done."

"Thank you," she said. She stood and walked to the mirror. Looked at herself. Adjusted a pin I’d placed slightly crooked.

I watched her. Looking for cracks. For anything that would tell

what she was thinking.

But she kept her face perfectly calm. Perfectly composed.

Like a queen.

Not like the girl I’d known for years. Not like my friend.

Midway through the morning, after we’d eaten a quiet breakfast together, Elara finally spoke.

"Lena," she said. Her voice was asured. Careful. "Has there been any word about Kaelen’s condition?"

I looked up from clearing the breakfast dishes. "Your Majesty?"

"My personal guard who was punished yesterday," she said. She wasn’t looking at . Was looking out the window instead. "Has anyone ntioned whether he... whether he survived the night?"

She frad it perfectly. A queen asking about a guard who was punished under her watch. Showing appropriate concern. Nothing more.

Not a woman asking about a man she’d kissed.

The restraint was precise. And it cut.

Because I knew the truth. Knew what she’d really done last night. Knew how she really felt.

And she was choosing not to tell . Choosing to keep it hidden.

Choosing not to confide in .

That hurt more than I expected.

"I haven’t heard anything," I said. My voice ca out even. Calm. Matching her tone. "Would you like

to find out?"

"If it’s not too much trouble," she said. "I just... I want to know that he’s alright. That the punishnt didn’t..."

She didn’t finish the sentence.

"I’ll find out," I said. "I’ll go ask the guards. See what I can learn."

"Thank you," she said. She looked at

then. And for just a second, I saw sothing in her eyes. Gratitude. Relief. Maybe even guilt.

But then it was gone. Hidden behind that calm, controlled mask again.

"I’ll be back soon," I said.

I left the chambers. Walked through the palace corridors with purpose.

But inside, I was reeling.

She’d lied to . Not directly. But by omission. By pretending she didn’t already know Kaelen’s condition.

Because she’d seen him herself. Had treated his wounds. Had kissed him in that dungeon cell.

And now she was pretending none of that had happened.

Why?

Why keep it from ?

Did she not trust

anymore?

The thought stung. Made my chest tight.

I’d been her maid for years. Her friend. The person she’d always confided in. The one she’d told about wanting to leave the palace. The one she’d trusted to help her with that plan.

And now she was keeping secrets from .

I pushed the hurt down. Focused on the task she’d given .

Find out about Kaelen.

I already knew he was alive. Had seen him breathing. Seen Elara bandaging him.

But I needed to know more. Needed to understand the situation fully.

I went to the guard quarters. Found a guard I knew slightly. A man who’d always been kind to .

"Excuse ," I said. "Can I ask you sothing?"

"Of course," he said. "What do you need?"

"The guard who was punished yesterday," I said. "Kaelen. Is there any word on his condition?"

The guard’s face darkened. "He’s alive. Barely."

"Where is he being kept?"

"The holding cells," the guard said. "Lord Malakor ordered that he remain confined until further instruction."

Those words. "Until further instruction."

I knew palace language. Knew what that ant.

Kaelen wasn’t being held because he was a danger. He was being held as leverage.

As a piece on Malakor’s ga board.

Sothing he could use if he needed to control Elara.

"Has he been treated?" I asked. "By a healer?"

"Not that I know of," the guard said. "Lord Malakor said he was to receive basic care only. Water. Bread. Nothing more."

My stomach turned. "No dical treatnt?"

"The punishnt was supposed to teach him a lesson," the guard said uncomfortably. "I suppose Lord Malakor thinks healing him too quickly would defeat the purpose."

I thanked him and walked away.

My mind was racing.

If Kaelen was leverage, if Malakor was keeping him weak and injured on purpose, then Elara’s attachnt to him was dangerous.

Malakor would use it. Would twist it. Would turn it into a weapon against her.

And I’d seen enough in that dungeon corridor to know the attachnt was real.

This wasn’t just a queen concerned about her guard. This was deeper. More complicated.

More dangerous.

I walked slowly back to Elara’s chambers. Thinking about what to say. How to deliver this news.

When I entered, Elara looked up imdiately. "What did you learn?"

"He’s alive," I said. I watched her face carefully as I spoke. "Barely. He’s being kept in the holding cells. Lord Malakor ordered that he remain confined until further instruction."

Elara’s face didn’t change. Didn’t show any reaction beyond a slight pause before nodding.

But I saw it. In her eyes. In the way her hands tightened slightly on the book she was holding.

Relief. Buried deep. Controlled. But there.

"I see," she said. Her voice was steady. "Thank you for finding out."

"He hasn’t been treated by a healer," I continued. "Lord Malakor ordered basic care only. Water and bread. No dical attention."

Sothing changed in Elara’s expression. Anger, maybe. Or pain.

But she buried it quickly. "I understand. Thank you, Lena."

She turned back to her book. Dismissing .

I stood there for a mont. Looking at her. This queen who was learning to hide herself.

Not just from Malakor.

From .

"Will there be anything else, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"No," she said. "That will be all for now."

I bowed slightly and left the room.

But I didn’t go far. Just to my small chamber. Where I could think.

Elara was changing. Learning to mask herself. To hide what she was really thinking. Really feeling.

She’d always been open with

before. Always told

everything.

But now?

Now she was keeping secrets. Playing a ga I wasn’t sure I understood.

And I realized sothing that hurt more than I wanted to admit.

I was no longer the first person she turned to.

Maybe I wasn’t even the person she trusted most anymore.

That thought planted itself in my mind like a seed. Small but growing.

If Elara could keep this secret from ... what else might she be capable of?

What other secrets was she hiding?