Rhydian;

The atmosphere in Queen Cassia’s chamber is calm. Too calm. It’s like an imitation of the peace that has taken over Gravemaw for weeks now.

A deceptive calmness that irks me. It’s the very reason I haven’t left Gravemaw. I can sense trouble brewing, and I can not bear to leave her alone to face it.

Because nothing about this kingdom, or the situation currently surrounding it, is light.

I stand near the centre of the room, with my arms folded behind my back, and my gaze fixed on the polished floor rather than on her.

I have had my fill of the deception and doubt, and I have come to bear my mind.

I didn’t come alone.

Across from me stands my mother with her usual rigid composure. Queen Cassia had offered us seats, but we chose to stand. What we came here to say demands that urgency.

"You’ve both been unusually persistent," She says, with her voice delicate, like warm milk, and I look up at her through my lashes.

She’s sitting by a window with a cup in her hand. Her golden hair has been held up in a bun, and every time she smiles, her wrinkles seem to vanish.

She’s a beautiful woman. If the sun were to take the shape of a mother, it would be her. And I hate to disturb her peace when she’s only just got it... But it needs to be done.

"You both look so grim, so I assume this is not a trivial matter." She adds as she sets down her cup, and mother both softly.

"It isn’t." She says, and this time, Queen Cassia looks past Mother and at me.

She studies me in silence, her expression unreadable but attentive. I’ve stayed with her long enough to understand her even before she speaks, but I wait nonetheless.

"Rhydian... You do not show worry with ease. What has disturbed you so?" She asks me, and I take a deep breath.

I lift my gaze to meet hers fully as I take a step forward.

"I’ll speak plainly," I say, as I stand properly in the morning light spilling in through another window.

"We believe the person currently in Gravemaw, presenting himself as Alana... is not Alana," I say flatly, and what follows, as expected, is silence.

Queen Cassia blinks at me, and then at Mother. I know Mother has told her this before, but this is my first time saying it to her, and I need her to believe me.

If she didn’t trust Mother... I need her to trust me.

I watch her fold her hands in her lap as she sits up straighter.

"That is an audacious claim, Rhydian." She says, and I nod.

"I know, Mother. Believe me, I wouldn’t dare bring this to you if I didn’t have a tangible level of certainty." I reply, and once again, she looks at my mother, who still remains silent.

Queen Cassia then takes a breath and asks.

"So... who do you believe is posing as Alana?" She asks, and Mother answers this time.

"Bram."

Merely hearing that name sends a jolt of disgust and rage through me. It carries weight. History. Damage...

But despite all it means to me, I can see how little it means to Queen Cassia.

Her brows knit curiously as she watches us.

"Bram..." She repeats thoughtfully, as if testing the name against memory... and finding very little there.

Of course.

Why would she remember him?

To her, Bram was nothing.

If he were anything to her, at best, it would be a face among many. An existence pointless enough to be written over. Someone who existed too far from her attention to matter. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

But to us...? To me??

He was chaos given form. A curse I let to rid me of the one thing that truly meant something to me. Elian’s love.

"That name doesn’t hold much meaning to you," I say quietly, and she pulls away from her thoughts to look up at me.

"No. I’m... afraid it doesn’t." She says, and I look over at Mother. She exhales in response.

She steps forward, and from the look on her face, I can see there are things she does not want to say, but knows she must.

So I step in first.

"He’s not a rogue, or... just some random person," I say, dropping my gaze as memories of him flood my mind.

"He’s a creature who doesn’t act without purpose. He studies people. Learns them. Finds where they are weakest and presses until they break." My fists clench as I shamefully let out the next words.

"He did it to me."

I look back up at Queen Cassia and find pure attention to detail in her eyes. Like her ears are picking up every word, and her mind is deciphering them.

"I didn’t notice at first," I continue as I take another step forward.

"It wasn’t obvious... And that’s the problem with him. He doesn’t come at you directly. He nudges... Suggests. Twists things just enough that you begin to question yourself instead of him." I add, and memories of Elian’s wronged... pained voice, screaming at me to see the truth, echo in my mind.

"He drove a wedge between me and Elián," I whisper, as the reality of these words is too heavy for me to speak them normally.

"Turned things that were never meant to be problems into... something else. He made me believe things that weren’t true. And by the time I realised what he was doing, the damage was already done." I conclude, and Elian’s words to me that day come back...

"I have given you way too many chances, and you’ve been creative enough to hurt me in new ways each time. Do not make the mistake of thinking I’ll be generous to give you another chance."

My mind replays how he looked at me that day. The anger. The hurt, the pain, the disappointment... Tears sting the sides of my eyes, but I don’t let them fall.

Perhaps noticing my distress, Mother steps forward, and her voice fills the space.

However, when it does, I realise that her voice is different.

It’s lower... Less controlled.

Almost even... ashamed.

"There’s more, Cassia." She says, and I look up at her.