I thought the Valtore estate was cold. I was wrong.
The Dravik compound sat on the cliffs like a fortress built to survive the war—and win it. Steel gates. Guard towers. Black stone walls that looked centuries old. No windows. Just narrow slits that felt more like weapons than architecture.
"You live here?" I muttered.
Kaelen stepped out of the car behind me. "It's not meant to be comfortable."
"No kidding."
He didn't answer.
I didn't expect him to.
Inside, it was worse. Clean, yes. Grand, sure. But silent. Lifeless. Everything was polished obsidian, with harsh lighting, and shadows that didn't move when you did.
"Lord Kaelen," a voice said from above.
A man walked down the main staircase like he owned the air. The late thirties. Lean. Military-cut hair. Eyes like a blade.
"Talon," Kaelen greeted without warmth.
Talon.
Kaelen's right hand, if I remembered the files right. Ex-military. Loyal to the bone. Unfriendly by design.
"And this," Talon said, turning to me, "must be the widow."
My spine straightened. "I'm not a widow."
"Could've fooled me. You wear blood like perfume."
Kaelen stepped forward. "Talon."
The warning was sharp. Almost surprising.
Talon smirked. "You'll find I don't sugar-coat, Lady Dravik."
"I'm not using that name," I said.
Talon raised a brow. "What should we call you then? The orphan bride?"
"Try that again," I said, stepping toward him, "and I'll show you how orphans survive."
Silence.
Then—Kaelen's voice, low. "Enough."
Talon looked at him, then at me.
He didn't smile this time. "You'll want to speak with Councilor Maive. The others are gathering."
"What others?" I asked.
Kaelen's jaw ticked. "The Dravik inner circle. They expect introductions."
"Oh, good. A meet-and-greet with people who hate me."
"You'll need allies," Kaelen said.
"I don't want allies."
"You don't have a choice."
"I never do, do I?"
Kaelen didn't answer.
Of course not.
Talon turned, but not before muttering under his breath—loud enough for me to hear.
"She won't last a week."
Kaelen didn't correct him.
He just walked away.
And I stood there, staring up at a house full of knives.
The council room was colder than the rest of the house, which I didn't think was possible.
Long table. Twelve chairs. Eleven bodies were already seated, watching me like they were deciding whether to kill me or keep me.
Kaelen stood at the head.
I stood at the foot.
Talon took a seat without a word.
Kaelen nodded once. "This is Lady Sereya Valtore."
"Dravik," corrected a woman on the left. Pale, severe, probably in her forties. "By bond."
Sereya Dravik. The name made my stomach twist.
"I'll keep my name," I said flatly.
"Names are earned here," she replied. "Not kept."
"Who are you?"
"Councilor Maive. I oversee security, supply, and tradition. You'll get used to me."
"I don't plan to stay long enough to need to."
A few low laughs. Not kind ones.
Kaelen didn't move. He let the words sit.
A man across the table leaned forward. Silver hair. Black gloves. "Tell me, Lady Valtore, do you come bearing grief or strategy?"
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Your father is dead. And yet here you are, in our house, speaking like a woman already adjusted to her role."
"I'm adjusting to staying alive," I said. "Something you people should appreciate."
Maive cut in. "Your presence threatens the stability of this house."
"How?"
"You bring Valtore eyes. Valtore enemies. Valtore arrogance."
"And what do you bring?" I snapped. "Paranoia? Pride? Guns at weddings?"
She stood. "You forget where you are."
"No," I said. "I'm reminded with every breath."
Kaelen finally spoke. "That's enough."
Everyone went quiet.
"She's here by treaty," Kaelen said. "By right. And she'll be treated accordingly."
Maive's mouth tightened. "Even when she brings war to your doorstep?"
"She brings leverage."
"She brings chaos."
Kaelen turned to me. "Sereya."
I met his eyes.
"Tell them what you told me," he said.
I swallowed. Hard.
"There's someone inside House Valtore who turned on us. My father suspected it. He summoned my cousin before the wedding—without telling me. He said someone close to him wasn't who they appeared to be."
"Proof?" Massive asked.
"None yet," I said. "But I'm going to find it."
"And if the traitor isn't in your house?" Talon asked.
"Then I'll find the one in yours."
That got their attention.
Kaelen nodded once. "The investigation begins immediately."
"You're trusting her to investigate us?" Maive said.
"No," he replied. "I'm trusting her to survive. What she uncovers along the way is extra."
I turned my gaze to the table. "You can glare at me, insult me, doubt me. But here's the truth—someone killed the man who raised me, and tried to make me next."
Silence.
"So either help me find them," I said, "or get the hell out of my way."
Kaelen looked at me then—just a flicker.
Something passed between us.
And I didn't know whether it was respect…
Or warning.
"I don't trust you."
Talon's voice hit the hallway the moment I stepped out of the council room.
"Did I ask you to?" I said without turning.
He followed anyway. Of course, he did.
"I've seen women like you," he muttered.
"Beautiful and dangerous?"
"Manipulative. Arrogant. Grieving just enough to look human."
I stopped walking. "You think this is an act?"
"I think you're dangerous in all the wrong ways."
"And you're scared of that?"
"I'm wary," he said. "There's a difference."
I turned to face him. "Tell me something, Talon. If it were your father bleeding out on a ballroom floor, would you be calm? Rational? Strategic?"
"I'd bury him and get to work."
"Then maybe you're the one who's dangerous."
He stepped closer. Not touching, but close enough that I could feel the weight in his voice.
"Kaelen won't protect you forever."
"Who said I need protecting?"
He smiled, sharp and joyless. "Good. Because when the real enemies start moving, no one will care what house you come from. Only who you stand with."
He turned and walked off.
I waited until the sound of his boots faded, then started moving again.
The hallway forked left toward my assigned quarters. I took the right instead.
I didn't know the layout yet, but instinct pulled me deeper into the wing—dim lights, stone walls, polished floors that caught every echo.
Then I heard them.
Voices.
Faint, but sharp.
I slowed, pressing myself into a shadowed archway.
"…we move too soon, and she'll scatter."
It was a man's voice. One I didn't recognize.
"We don't need her alive," came the reply.
That one I did recognize. Councilor Maive.
"She's just a placeholder. A symbol," she continued. "Once her value burns out, we remove her. Quietly."
"And Kaelen?"
"Kaelen's useful—for now. But he's getting soft. Letting emotion interfere. That won't last."
I felt it in my spine. A freeze. A fury.
This wasn't just about distrust.
They were planning something.
"And the cousin?" the man asked.
"Vionne?" Massive replied. "She plays the long game. Leave her to me."
Footsteps.
I backed into the corridor and walked fast, heart pounding.
They didn't see me.
They didn't know I heard.
But they would.
Eventually.
He was waiting in my room.
Arms crossed. Shirt half-unbuttoned. That unreadable expression carved into his face like it had been there since birth.
"Didn't know we were doing bedroom visits now," I said.
"I wanted to talk before the others got to you."
"Too late."
His brow twitched. "Maive?"
"And a man I didn't recognize."
He nodded once. No surprise. No reaction.
"They're plotting," I said. "Not quietly."
"I know."
"You know?"
Kaelen stepped forward. "Maeve's had her agenda since before I could grow a beard. I let her stay because she's effective."
"She's planning to kill me."
"She might be planning to kill you."
"Oh, well. That's comforting."
He studied me. "I'm not going to let that happen."
"You keep saying that. I keep almost believing you."
"Do more than believe me," he said. "Work with me."
I stared at him.
"I'm not asking for trust," he added. "I'm asking for results."
"And when those results include stabbing your advisors in the back?"
"I'll help you aim."
I almost laughed. I didn't.
"Why me?" I asked. "Why protect me when it would be eas
ier to let me die and blame the chaos on someone else?"
"Because you matter now."
"To what? The treaty?"
"To me."
Silence.
"You're lying," I said.
Kaelen didn't flinch. "Maybe."
And then he left.
No explanation.
No promise.
Just a door closing behind him.
And a thousand new questions pressing against my ribs.