HAPTER 100


    I wasn’t able to get back to sleep that night. My mind kept reying every tense word from earlier. Iy there, rigid, listening to the quiet rhythm of Elias’s breathing beside me. Even in sleep, he seemed alert, each inhale and exhale steady and controlled, a reminder of the unshakable presence he carried.


    The room was still cloaked in darkness, but faint streaks of light began creeping through the cracks in the walls as the first hints of dawn approached. The silence was broken slowly, almost reverently, by the distant sounds of life outside. Footsteps shuffled across the camp, the creak of leather straps, the low murmur of voices coordinating. They were preparing, I realized–preparing to hide the camp from prying eyes during the day, <i>to </i><i>make </i>it vanish beneath the forest as though it had never existed at all.


    I kept my eyes open, heart restless, tracing the shadows that shifted with the rising light. Each movement outside felt amplified, every small sound dragging me further from sleep, anchoring me to the quiet tension of the morning. The camp was alive already, and I felt like a stranger in its rhythm, suspended between the night’s lingering unease and the day’s


    inevitable action.


    I guessed this was a daily routine. The careful, quiet preparations, the subtle movements that made the camp seem almost alive in its concealment–this had to happen every day. I couldn’t stay cooped up any longer. Carefully, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed myself upright, muscles stiff from lying awake. The cool morning air from the cracked window brushed against my skin, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more.


    I stepped outside, letting the soft light of dawn wash over me, and immediately felt the camp’s pulse. People were moving everywhere, tending to tents, rearranging supplies, whispering instructions. The tter of tools, the shuffle of feet on the soft earth, the asional mutedughter–all blended into a rhythm of quiet efficiency. The world outside seemed to move faster than the stillness inside, and I felt strangely both out of ce and


    drawn into it.


    And then I noticed movement closer, deliberate and fluid. One of the wolves, tall and sleek, padded toward me. Its amber eyes locked onto mine, curiosity and recognition flickering in their depths. Its presence was calming and unnerving all at once, a reminder that even in this chaos, there were creatures bound to me, connected to me in ways humans could never


    understand.


    “Report, ma’am. No activity during the night. If they know that we’re here, they aren’t making a move on us.” The wolf mind–linked me, its voice calm and steady in my head. I felt the connection like a thread running between us, unspoken but clear, carrying more than words


    < CHAPTER 100


    ever could–alertness, loyalty, even a trace of pride. <fndc13> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? f?ndnovel</fndc13>


    im


    “Thank you.” I replied, my thoughts careful and deliberate. “Get some rest. Let someone else take over. We’ll be moving out shortly.”


    The wolf gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, then turned and padded silently toward the edge of the woods near the vige. I watched him disappear among the trees, his movements purposeful, a shadow among shadows, until he found a secluded spot to camp. There, he could rest while the rest of the camp continued its work, preparing for the day and maintaining the careful illusion of peace.


    Even as I observed him, I felt a strange sense of reassurance. The wolf’s presence, even at a distance, reminded me that we weren’t alone. The camp buzzed around me, but the quiet thread of connection to him made it feel anchored, like we were all part of arger rhythm- an unseen current of vignce, loyalty, and readiness that stretched through every living thing


    here.


    “Lyra. How did you sleep?” Arthur asked, walking up behind me.


    “Yeah. Pretty good.” I said.


    “Really? I thought I heard some strange noisesing from that hutst night.” He said.


    “Arthur. If you want to keep your sanity then I suggest you don’t listen to what goes on in our bedroom at night time.” I smirked.


    “Right. Well, it sounded like a nightmare.” He said.


    “Maybe you should just pay attention to yourself sleeping and not us.” I said.


    “Will do. Anyway, I was thinking that we could try and get to the castle today.” He said.


    So I turned around to look at him fully with a curious look on my face.


    “Why are you so desperate to storm her castle?!” I snapped, my voice trembling with barely–contained fury. “It’s a death sentence. If we want even a slim chance of beating her, we need to lure her out–drag her away from her walls, away from herfort zone. Anywhere else, we might stand a chance!”


    “I know.<i>” </i>He said, his jaw tight. “But it’s not that simple. She never leaves. She has others do her dirty work. But with ourbined powers, we can sneak in. Cloak ourselves. No one else can do it.”


    I threw my hands up, frustration cutting through me like a de. “And once we get there? What then? Do you know the castle’syout? Do you know where she’ll be? How many guards, how many traps, how many–dragons she might have hidden behind her magic? Do


    :


    < CHAPTER 100


    you know anything about the ce?!<b>” </b>


    im


    “We need to find out. The only way is if just the two of us go. Not all of us.” He said, his voice calm, deliberate.


    I narrowed my eyes. “Do you have some secret connection to the Ash Queen or the ck witch that you’re not telling me?”


    “What? No. I have no connection to that b***h. And I don’t want one.” He snapped.


    “Well, something’s off.” I said, my voice rising. “There’s something you’re hiding, and it’s making me question if I should even be here!”


    “Don’t leave.” He said quickly, almost pleading. “Maybe there are things I didn’t tell you–but nothing you couldn’t already figure out.”


    “Like what?” I pressed, voice sharp.


    “Like the werebears.” He said, hesitation creeping in. “They’re all gone. Wiped out. They were …good to you. Kind to you.”


    “That’s because they recognized me as one of them. A werewolf.” I said, jaw tight.


    “I know that.” He said, sighing. “But as for the rest… I don’t know what you’re nning. I


    needed you here to kill the Ash Queen–but she never leaves her castle. The only way to reach her is inside her domain. And it’s cloaked. We’re the only ones who can get in.”


    “So you


    didn’t tell me any of this back home because you thought I wouldn’te?” I hissed, anger sparking in my chest.


    “Yeah.” He admitted, almost sheepishly.


    “You do know we <i>have </i>ways to make here out. Ways that don’t involve sneaking into her death trap alone. I brought warriors because I knew we’d need them.” I snapped, pointing at the gathered fighters.


    “You brought too many. They’ll draw attention!” Arthur barked, frustration cracking his voice.


    “Arthur.” I said, stepping closer, voice icy, “I’ve been fighting all my life. Believe it or not, I’ve gotten good at it. Not that I’m bragging–but I know exactly what I’m doing.”


    “Yeah. The ck Witch said the same thing–and now she’s dead.” He said with a bitterugh.


    “I’m the one who killed her.” I shot back, teeth clenched. “While you were back in your castle twiddling your thumbs!”


    < CHAPTER 100


    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He asked, incredulous.


    im


    “Even when your own realm was on the brink, I was out here fighting for it! Not you<i>. </i>So don’t you dare tell me I don’t know how to fight or what I’m doing!” I spat, anger zing.


    “Lyra, now is our chance.” He said, voice tense, trying to regain control. “<i>We </i>can get in before anyone notices we’re gone. We can scout the ce.”


    “No.” I said firmly, shaking my head. “I’m not going alone. That’s why I brought protection. The warriors. We will find another way to draw her out. But we are <i>not </i>going to her castle.”


    “You need to see reason…” Arthur said, stepping forward and grabbing my hands.


    “And you need to understand.” Elias growled from the doorway, his voice low and dangerous, “that she’s not going to that <i>f</i>*****<i>g </i>castle.”


    Arthur froze, his hands dropping as Elias strode toward us, his posture radiating a silent but lethal warning: stay away from her.


    It was more obvious now than ever that Arthur was after something. He needed to get me inside that castle for a reason that he wasn’t telling us. And it was going to cause a massive problem here.


    I knew that this ce was in danger. But I never imagined that King Arthur could be at the heart of the danger.


    Kylie K


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