Voices rose through the halls of the Silaxen castle — commoners and royals alike unsettled by a side of the king they rarely saw. The knights knew better than most: when the king lost his temper, he showed the worst of himself, indifferent to how high society or anyone else perceived him. Even his own children flinched to speak in his presence.

"I don't care how you find her. Just bring that cursed child back to face her punishment."

Soren stood through another round of the king's criticism — every knight, every search party blamed for failing to find the 3rd princess. When it was over, he found Princess Amara. "How are you holding up, Princess?"

"I..." Amara's breath caught as she fought back tears, her green eyes glassy. "I don't understand why Rune did this. Why would she run off with a stranger? I've managed to calm Father down, but I still don't understand."

"None of us understand why she did what she did," Soren said gently, careful not to overstep — he was her knight, nothing more, and his feelings for her would always be one-sided. "But I know it must have been for a reason. It always is with her. Something must have threatened you, and she took the risk on herself instead."

Neither of them said the word aloud, but both feared the same thing — that Rune truly believed herself the cursed child of Silax, and that wherever she was now, all they could do was hope this crisis passed.

Meanwhile, Sir Kaelen stood his night watch, unable to stop thinking about the foreign knight they'd captured. He remembered every shift Rune had taken over — the midnight training, the early mornings, her refusal to complain despite trading a life of luxury for the knight's path. He still didn't understand why she'd thrown it all away. She'd simply worked harder than anyone he'd ever trained.

"Ugh, this is the worst," one knight grumbled. "Not only is the king impossible lately, now we're pulling extra shifts hunting down the cursed princess-knight."

"I know, right? I'd bet she's dead by now," another said. "Ten months as a knight doesn't erase a lifetime as royalty. No way she survives out there alone."

Cain's jaw tightened in fury. He'd been one of the eleven knights Rune led against the first shadow attack — the ones who'd saved everyone. None of them knew what was going on in her head, but they knew she had a plan, and they'd stand by it, even at the cost of their lives. If the king had simply listened to her findings on the shadows, they might not even be in this mess.

Cain opened his mouth to snap back, but Kaelen cut him off. "Gentlemen. That is not how we speak of a fellow knight of Silax." Though his expression was hidden beneath his helmet, Cain caught the fury in his eyes. "If anyone has the right to speak ill of Knight Vesper, it would be me — and all I've ever seen is a strategist. A true knight, more interested in helping others than in status. I watched her train ten times harder than anyone under my command." He paused. "So tell me — what right do we have, as her fellow knights, to tear her down before we even acknowledge she's a princess first?"

Shamed, the others walked off toward the northern end of the castle.

After a long silence, Kaelen sighed. "Can you believe them, Sir Kaelen?!" Cain burst out. "The nerve, talking about Knight Vesper like that! And Soren — not even defending her! Some friend he turned out to be, after everything they had as princess and knight ten months ago."

Kaelen said nothing.

"You think that's bad?" A third knight approached from behind — darker in skin, hair, and eyes than either of them, where Kaelen's tone ran warm and sandy and Cain's was fair with silver-blue eyes. Logan crossed his arms. "My former liege, Duke Sam of House Aethelgard, is already using her disappearance to elevate his own name in the lower courts. You all know how the Aethelgard branch is — the king spoiled those children rotten, and it went straight to their heads. Nine of his sisters married into the high courts, and they still act like they're above the main royal line. Sam's not after the throne, but he's certainly using this to make himself look good. Telling high society Knight Vesper was always too 'unstable' for palace life — trying to paint his side of the family as Silax's golden standard."

Cain hissed through his teeth. "To a spoiled aristocrat like him, a missing commander isn't a tragedy. It's just a chance to shine at the next banquet."