QUICK RECAP-
James collapses into Trimat's arms, whispering "Why you…"—unanswered.
Ruby defies Duke Goldsen, revealing he murdered her mother during a failed rebellion.
Her vow—"I will kill you for that crime"—meets cold imprisonment.
Goldsen's private grief ("You were the size of my palm…") hints at twisted love. Meanwhile, the convoy races to Dentrius.
James awakens, terrified of Trimat: "You feel like the last betrayal I deserved."
His recoil suggests Trimat manipulated his Abyssal Ice. Final line—"Blood stays quiet"—promises coming storms. Cliffhangers:
Ruby's fate?
Trimat's endgame?
James' fractured memories?
-RECAP ENDS
James's voice broke the spell.
The carriage interior had grown heavy the moment his eyelids cracked open. His breath had trembled with the weight of accusation, and now—
It screamed through him.
"You made me sleep…"
His hand twitched.
An unnatural ripple ran along his palm, lightless and cold. Cast energy surged from his wrist, frost veins widening across the air.
Then—
The spear formed.
Not a crafted weapon.
Not ceremonial.
But elemental.
Jagged.
Unstable.
Half-frozen and half-formed from cast will and grief.
Sir Ronald Klaus shifted slightly.
Not in alarm.
In calculation.
His echo scanner blinked twice, pulse scanning James's reaction speed.
Arthur raised a hand—
"James, no—"
Adam instinctively activated his Hydro shielding, ripples warping the corner cushions.
Ruby wasn't here.
And Trimat?
Didn't move.
James locked eyes with the cloaked man.
The beggar.
The savior.
The betrayer.
"You were the only one…"
He stood now, hands trembling, spear pointed.
"You gave me food on the street."
"You told me the mob would kill me, and you pulled me out."
His voice cracked.
"You made me believe."
Arthur whispered, "James, please—"
James ignored him.
"You saved me."
"And then—you made me sleep."
"You gave me to them!"
"You—let me fall!"
He stepped forward, stumbling inside the carriage.
"You let them put chains around me."
"You vanished as I broke."
"You handed me over like I was a mistake you regretted."
His fingers curled tighter around the spear handle.
Trimat still didn't speak.
Sir Ronald moved half a pace sideways.
But didn't intervene.
Because one did not speak over Trimat D. Dentrius unless consequences had been considered.
The Dentrian knights in the rear cabin leaned closer from the next carriage.
Even Arthur couldn't fully speak now.
Only Adam whispered—
"What… happened between them?"
James's eyes flared.
"I trusted you."
"You were a beggar who made me think the world wasn't lost."
His chest heaved.
"And it was all a trick."
Then Trimat spoke.
One word.
Flat.
"No."
James didn't move.
Arthur turned sharply.
Ronald adjusted a scan.
Adam listened.
Trimat said—
"You think I made you sleep to betray you."
James raised the spear again.
"You threw me into confinement!"
Trimat's gaze didn't waver.
"I did it because if I hadn't…"
He blinked.
"…Ryan would've killed you."
James hesitated.
The cold air around his fingertips twitched.
Ronald's scan blinked yellow once.
Arthur held still.
Trimat continued.
"Ryan saw you as a wound."
"A threat."
"A rupture."
"He had the clearance. The authority. The fear."
"And when he lifted his execution glyph…"
Trimat looked into James's eyes.
"I saw what would follow."
The carriage fell into pure silence.
James's spear pulsed once.
Then wavered.
Trimat said, quieter now—
"So I made you sleep."
"Because unconsciousness isn't treason."
"It's time."
"I gave you time."
"Enough for me to get them to pause."
James didn't speak.
Ronald said slowly, "That tracks. Ryan was on edge."
Arthur added, "We did see revised glyph clearance. James wasn't supposed to survive that evening. Even the throne gave up on you."
Adam whispered, "If Trimat hadn't interfered…"
Ronald finished.
"You'd be dead."
James still held the spear.
Still stared.
Still silent.
But something behind his eyes began to crumble.
Trimat didn't apologize.
He didn't plead.
He didn't soften.
He just told it clean.
Because the truth didn't always wear regret.
James stepped back once.
His knees bent slightly.
The ice shaft rippled.
Then—
Fell apart.
The shards hit the floor of the carriage.
Evaporated into cast mist.
No echo lingered.
Only breath.
Only space.
James sat slowly.
Back into the corner.
His lips parted.
But no words came.
Then—
Quietly—
He said—
"I believed in you…"
Arthur reached toward his shoulder.
James didn't brush him away.
Adam tuned down the Hydro pressure field.
Ronald nodded once, silently.
Trimat remained still.
No pride.
No victory.
Just stillness.
Then James looked up.
Breath steady.
"Okay."
"You didn't mean to betray me."
"I won't forget what happened."
"But for now…"
He clenched his hand into a loose fist.
Then unclenched it.
"I'll trust."
"Just for now."
A pause.
Then Trimat spoke—
With a soft smile.
Not grand.
Not gleaming.
Just faint.
Just enough.
"Sure."
"Whatever you like."
On the other side,
The chains clinked once.
Not loudly.
Just enough to remind Ruby Goldsen that punishment wasn't always noisy.
She walked between two Hollow Bastion guards, cast suppression cuffs locked to her wrists. Her shoulders didn't droop. Her posture didn't ask for sympathy. But her face?
If rage could speak in silence, it wore her features.
Not a single word slipped from her lips.
Not yet.
The street curled into the corridor that led toward confinement. The Bastion gates shimmered ahead, glyph-rigged and sealed with royal-class bindings. Around her, onlookers stared. Some whispered. Most didn't dare.
She wasn't a traitor.
She was history being bruised.
Then—
A voice rose.
Mocking.
Smiling.
"Well, well."
Ruby didn't blink.
But she recognized it instantly.
Noah Chambers.
Suit tailored too clean for the dirt he threw. Flanked by his father, Regal Chambers, whose cast authority had signed more quiet verdicts than the throne dared count.
Noah walked with inherited pride, manufactured cruelty dripping from every syllable.
"She looks like she expected a parade," he said.
Regal chuckled, arms folded.
"Sadly, all that rebellion buys is cement and solitude."
Ruby didn't react.
Noah edged closer, guards letting him speak unchecked.
"You saved your frost-boy. Brave. Misguided. Romantic. Deadly."
He grinned.
"And now you're off to rot."
Regal added, "It's poetic."
"You stand by a boy whose breath could fracture capitals."
"A walking rupture of order."
"A curse wrapped in empathy."
"And look where it placed you."
Ruby exhaled.
Once.
No words.
No fury.
Just controlled contempt.
Noah laughed.
"She doesn't even fight back. Must be disappointing."
Regal smirked. "She's waiting to be remembered, even in disgrace."
Noah leaned closer.
"You think you did something noble?"
Ruby turned her head slightly.
Noah kept going.
"You'll never know peace."
"Because you gambled everything on a cast-born aberration."
"He'll be terminated."
"Just like your mother was."
Silence.
Ruby halted.
The guards paused.
Not out of obedience.
Out of instinct.
Because pressure shifts.
Even before words do.
Her eyes lifted.
Not wide.
Just intentional.
Focused.
Dark.
She stared at Noah.
Then at Regal.
No tremble.
No flinch.
Only raw, precise fury.
"You mock what you don't understand," she said.
Her voice didn't rise.
It cut.
"You call him plague, but your words rot louder."
"You think you're the future. But you're just delay wearing a suit."
Regal narrowed his eyes.
Ruby didn't blink.
"You're wrong."
"James will live."
Her tone twisted.
"He'll survive."
"To prove people like you wrong."
Her eyes gleamed.
"And while he ascends…"
She stepped forward—just half a pace.
"…I'll collect what you stole."
She tilted her chin.
"Piece by piece."
Her voice darkened.
"And when I'm done…"
"You'll count the days."
"The days between your blood."
"And your family's grief."
Silence followed.
Unblinking.
Regal's throat moved once—reflexively.
Noah opened his mouth, then shut it.
The guards resumed walking.
They didn't need to be asked.
And Ruby?
Let her chains clink.
One last time.
She didn't look back.
Not at them.
Not at the city.
Only at the Bastion gates.
Where memory awaited punishment.
By 2:35 PM, she passed the final threshold.
Stone arches closed behind her.
And Ruby Goldsen began her month.
Alone.
Unyielding.
Scene Shift – Royal Convoy Northern Windpath Rail — Dentrius Capital Route
Wind pressure slowed.
The carriages continued forward, cast wheels humming along reinforced frostrails. Defensive glyphs pulsed steady across the top crests, tuned perfectly to Trimat's aura.
Inside, Sir Ronald monitored atmospheric shifts from the front cabin. Arthur sat beside James, watching the boy's pulse pattern stabilize. Adam worked silently on recalibrating field echo buffers.
Trimat remained quiet.
His presence was a shield on its own.
James hadn't spoken since his quiet surrender.
No apologies.
No forgiveness.
Just endurance.
His gaze remained half-lowered.
Arthur considered speaking, then refrained.
Ronald checked his signal scan again.
Adam leaned near the window.
Then—
The carriage jolted.
Not violently.
Just enough to mean interruption.
Ronald rose instantly.
"Glyph rails broken," he muttered.
Arthur straightened.
Adam blinked.
"That's not structural decay—"
Outside, shadows flickered.
Then—
A voice.
Low.
Direct.
Unmistakable.
"Come out."
"Your days are over, Plague."
James looked up.
Arthur turned sharply.
Ronald signaled silently to the knights.
Adam's hands lit with pulse energy.
Trimat opened his eyes fully.
But did not speak.
Not yet.
James sat straighter.
His breath shallow.
His posture sharp.
Outside, something waited.
Not law.
Not kings.
Something colder.
"When Chains Restrain,
Fire Remembers"
END OF CHAPTER-20
-To Be Continued-