Chapter 16 – Hand in the Shadow
Lucian's gaze lingered on Selene's hand. It hovered between them like a blade's edge—danger and promise entwined. For a moment, the rain was all he heard, drumming against the stone and trickling down his neck.
Kaelen's voice cut through. "Don't. She speaks of freedom, but binds it with chains. I've seen her kind before—smiles that hide daggers."
Selene's lips curved into something too sharp to be kindness. "And I've seen men like you, Kaelen. Cynics who cloak fear as wisdom. You talk of daggers while kneeling before the very tyrant who forged them."
Kaelen bristled, hand on his hilt, but Lucian raised a palm to silence him. He wasn't blind to Selene's venom, nor to Kaelen's suspicion. Both rang true.
"What happens," Lucian asked slowly, "if I take your hand?"
Selene stepped closer. The lantern-light caught the edge of her hood, illuminating her eyes—silver, piercing, like stars glimpsed through storm clouds. "You'll gain what you lack. Eyes in places you cannot see. Voices whispering truths you'll never find alone. Protection from the Blades that hunt you, from the High Father's gaze. But more than that… you will belong. Not to me, not even to the Oathkeepers, but to the vow itself."
Kaelen snorted. "And if he refuses?"
Her gaze turned to him like frost. "Then the Blades will carve him to pieces before the next moon wanes. And you will die beside him, noble and forgotten."
The silence stretched. Lucian's chest tightened—not with fear, but with the familiar weight of choice. Every step he had taken since fleeing Durelin had been reaction, survival. For once, here was a chance to choose.
The thought of Maltherion's priests, of the gallows square, of the children singing hymns under banners soaked in blood—it boiled inside him. He had seen enough of the High Father's light.
Lucian reached out. His fingers brushed hers.
Kaelen cursed under his breath, but Lucian gripped Selene's hand firmly.
The moment their palms touched, a chill raced through him—not cold, but an awakening. Images flickered in his mind's eye: a black sun eclipsing the sky, blades dripping with silver fire, a circle of hooded figures chanting beneath crumbling ruins.
Selene whispered, so softly only he could hear: "Welcome to the shadow, Oathbreaker."
Lucian's grip tightened. Not Oathbreaker… not yet.