Kael hadn't spoken since the melody vanished into silence. He stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes scanning the sky like he was expecting it to fall.
Lira finally broke the quiet. "What are you not telling me?"
He turned to face her, but there was hesitation in his voice. "There are things I swore never to speak of. But if I stay silent now, it'll cost us both."
He walked over, slowly untying a worn chain around his neck. At the end of it was a crest—a black lion over a broken crown.
Lira's eyes widened. "That's the mark of the King's Shadow Guard. The ghost soldiers."
"They're real," Kael said softly. "And I was one of them."
"You… you were a royal guard?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"Worse," he said. "I was trained to silence threats before they were born. I was sent to eliminate the last of the Hollow Singers."
The world spun under Lira's feet.
Her voice, her gift—it had been a target.
"And now?" she asked, barely able to speak.
"Now I'm the only thing standing between you and those who still carry out that mission."
Lightning cracked in the distance.
Kael met her gaze with a strange softness in his eyes. "I disobeyed the King's last command. For you."
Lira backed away. "Why me?"
"Because when I heard you sing, I didn't hear a weapon. I heard hope."
She didn't know what to say—part of her wanted to run. Part of her wanted to scream.
But instead, she asked, "Then what do we do now?"
Kael looked to the storm-touched horizon.
"We find the Hollow before they find you. And we awaken the song that can end this war."