Cael's knife rested against Mira's throat, but his eyes never left Toby.
The resemblance between them was impossible to ignore.
The same dark eyes. The same stubborn set of the jaw. Even the slight crease beneath the left eyebrow appeared on Cael's face, though his was crossed by a thin scar.
Yet where Toby still carried something open and uncertain in his expression, Cael looked as though uncertainty had been burned out of him years ago.
"I already opened the first gate."
Another distant roar rolled beneath the mountains.
Dust fell from the lodge ceiling.
Gareth moved his sword half an inch.
Cael immediately pressed the knife harder against Mira's skin.
A red line appeared.
"Don't."
Gareth stopped.
"If you hurt her—"
"You'll kill me?"
Cael smiled.
"That's what everyone says to people they don't understand."
Toby stepped forward.
"Let Mira go."
Cael finally looked at him differently.
Curiosity.
"You're smaller than I expected."
"You're uglier than I expected."
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Cael laughed.
A real laugh.
"Definitely my brother."
"Let her go."
"Why?"
"Because she has nothing to do with this."
Cael's amusement vanished.
"That's where you're wrong."
Mira stiffened.
Gareth noticed.
So did Toby.
He looked at her.
"Mira?"
She wouldn't meet his eyes.
Cael whispered beside her ear, "Tell him."
Mira began trembling.
"Tell me what?" Toby asked.
"I..."
Her voice failed.
Cael sighed.
"Fine."
He shoved her forward.
Gareth pulled Mira away while Thane and two soldiers surrounded Cael.
Cael made no attempt to escape.
Instead, he casually lowered his knife.
"Ask your little kitchen friend who tied that message beneath Tempest's saddle."
Toby looked at Mira.
"You said you found it there."
"I did."
"Who put it there?"
Silence.
"Mira."
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"I did."
Toby's face changed.
"You wrote it?"
"No. Cael gave it to me."
"Before today?"
She nodded.
"How long have you known him?"
"Two years."
Toby stepped backward.
Gareth watched something more painful than fear cross the boy's face.
Betrayal.
Mira had clearly mattered to him.
"Why?"
"Toby, please—"
"Why were you watching me?"
"I wasn't at first."
"At first?"
Mira wiped her eyes.
"We grew up in the same kitchen passages. You were my friend."
"Were?"
"You still are."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he said you'd die if I did."
Toby looked at Cael.
"What did you threaten her with?"
Cael's expression hardened.
"I never threatened Mira."
"Then what did you tell her?"
"The truth."
Cael turned toward Gareth.
"That High Keep would kill Toby the moment his mark awakened."
Gareth said nothing.
Because that part had been true.
Cael looked back at his brother.
"I kept you alive."
"You spied on me."
"I watched over you."
"Through her."
"Because I couldn't walk into High Keep myself."
"Why?"
Cael slowly raised his right arm.
The Sovereign Crest glowed.
"Because mine awakened years ago."
Ysara stared at him.
"When?"
"I was seven."
Her face went pale.
"Impossible."
"I've heard that word often."
"Seraphine would have known."
"Seraphine wasn't there."
Toby's anger faltered.
"Where were you raised?"
Cael's smile disappeared.
"Below."
"Below where?"
"Everywhere your kingdom throws away the people it doesn't want."
He walked toward the fireplace.
Thane's soldiers followed with swords raised.
Cael ignored them.
"Monasteries. Mines. Military camps. Prison settlements."
"Who raised you?" Gareth asked.
Cael looked over his shoulder.
"The Ashen Brotherhood."
Gareth tightened his grip.
"So you serve them."
"No."
"Those men called Toby their king."
"They call anyone useful whatever keeps them obedient."
Toby frowned.
"They recognized me."
"They recognized your mark."
Cael pointed toward Toby's arm.
"They've spent centuries waiting for someone like us."
"Us?"
"Twins bearing opposite seals."
Ysara whispered, "The Twin Flame."
Everyone looked at her.
Cael smiled.
"Finally, someone who has read the forbidden pages."
Gareth faced Ysara.
"What is the Twin Flame?"
She looked reluctant.
Cael answered for her.
"The prison beneath High Keep was never designed for one keeper."
Toby's eyes moved to Cael's right arm.
"Two keys."
"Exactly."
"The two of us."
"Exactly."
Gareth stepped between them.
"Then Toby goes nowhere near High Keep."
Cael laughed softly.
"Still pretending you have a choice."
"I've made mine."
"No. You made your choice ten years ago."
Gareth froze.
Cael turned fully toward him.
"You want to know what happened to me?"
"Cael," Ysara warned.
"No. He deserves this."
Cael's eyes burned with years of anger.
"The night Seraphine gave birth, Queen Elara discovered there were twins. One child could be hidden. Two could not."
Toby listened silently.
"Seraphine begged Gareth to take both children out through the southern tunnels."
Gareth shook his head.
"That never happened."
"Because you don't remember."
"Convenient."
"Ask Ysara."
Gareth turned.
Ysara did not deny it.
His stomach tightened.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"Did Seraphine ask me to take them?"
"Yes."
Gareth stared at her.
"I would remember."
"You were wounded."
"That doesn't erase memory."
"No."
Ysara looked toward Cael.
"But poison does."
Gareth's face went cold.
"What poison?"
"Queen Elara's physicians drugged you."
"Why?"
"Because you refused to surrender the children."
Fragments flashed through Gareth's mind.
Smoke.
A crying infant.
Seraphine's blood-covered hands.
A cup pressed against his mouth.
Then nothing.
He gripped the table.
Cael continued.
"You escaped with one child."
"Toby?"
"No."
Cael touched his own chest.
"Me."
Silence.
Toby looked at Gareth.
Cael's voice became quieter.
"You carried me through the southern tunnels."
Gareth could barely speak.
"Then how did you end up with the Brotherhood?"
"You collapsed near the old aqueduct."
Cael's anger sharpened.
"The Brotherhood found us."
"Us?"
"You were still holding me."
Gareth felt sick.
"What happened?"
"They took me."
"And left you to die."
Toby stared at Gareth.
"Then who took me?"
Cael looked at Ysara.
"Ask her."
Everyone turned.
Ysara closed her eyes.
"I did."
Gareth crossed the room.
"You took Toby?"
"Seraphine gave him to me."
"And you gave him to Mara."
"Eventually."
"Why separate them?"
"Because together they were dangerous."
Cael laughed.
"No. Together we were powerful."
"Exactly."
Ysara faced him.
"And look what they made you into."
Cael's smile vanished.
"What they made me?"
"You opened the first gate."
"Because it had to be opened."
"Thousands could die."
"Thousands already have."
Cael's voice suddenly rose.
"Do you know what maintains that prison?"
Nobody answered.
"Blood."
Ysara whispered, "Don't."
"Tell them."
"Cael—"
"Tell Toby what his precious kingdom has been doing beneath High Keep for three hundred years."
Toby looked at Ysara.
"What is he talking about?"
She remained silent.
Cael's expression twisted.
"Every generation, prisoners disappear. Orphans disappear. Enemy soldiers disappear."
Gareth felt cold.
"No."
"Ask yourself why High Keep has dungeons with no release records."
"You're lying."
"I've been inside them."
Cael pulled open his shirt.
Scars covered his chest.
Not battle wounds.
Symbols.
Burns.
Dozens of them.
Mira covered her mouth.
Toby stared.
Cael touched one scar.
"The Brotherhood didn't make these."
"Who did?" Toby whispered.
"Morvus's priests."
Gareth looked at Thane.
The commander was pale.
"You work with Morvus."
Thane shook his head.
"I didn't know."
Cael laughed bitterly.
"Everyone says that when the bodies finally become visible."
Toby approached his brother.
"What does the blood do?"
"It keeps Azrath asleep."
Ysara finally answered.
"The prison consumes life."
"And when the sacrifices stop," Cael said, "the gates weaken."
Toby looked horrified.
"So you opened one."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I intend to end the pact."
"By releasing Azrath?"
"No."
Cael's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked almost hopeful.
"By killing him."
Ysara stared at him.
"You cannot kill Azrath."
"The royal family couldn't."
"Nobody can."
"We can."
Cael pointed between himself and Toby.
"Together."
Gareth immediately said, "No."
Cael ignored him.
"The Twin Flame didn't create the prison."
"Then what did it create?" Toby asked.
"A weapon."
The room went silent.
Cael reached into his coat.
Every sword rose.
"Relax."
He removed a fragment of black metal.
It resembled part of a broken blade.
The moment Toby saw it, his crest ignited.
Cael's did the same.
The fragment began glowing white.
Ysara stumbled backward.
"Where did you get that?"
"Behind the first gate."
"What is it?"
"The first piece of the Kingsbane."
Gareth frowned.
Cael continued.
"Three pieces. Three gates. Reforge the blade, and Azrath can be killed."
"And you expect Toby to help you?"
"Eventually."
"Why not now?"
Cael looked toward the window.
"Because we're missing something."
"What?"
"The third key."
Gareth remembered the letter.
There are three keys.
The boy carries the first.
Morvus possesses the second.
The third was buried with the traitor.
"Who was the traitor?" Gareth asked.
Cael's eyes shifted toward Thane.
Thane went rigid.
"No."
Cael smiled.
"You know."
Thane backed toward the door.
Gareth blocked him.
"Who?"
Thane's face had lost all color.
"The official history calls him the traitor because he opened the lower tunnels during the massacre."
"Name."
Thane looked toward Toby.
Then Cael.
"Prince Edric."
Toby stared.
"My brother?"
"Half-brother," Gareth said automatically.
Cael laughed.
"Your family tree is exhausting."
Toby ignored him.
"If the third key was buried with Edric..."
"He isn't dead," Gareth said.
"Exactly," Cael replied.
"Then the key isn't buried."
Cael's smile faded.
"That's the problem."
He placed the Kingsbane fragment on the table.
"Edric is alive."
"Where?" Toby demanded.
Cael looked toward Thane.
"Tell him."
Thane said nothing.
"Tell him where your prince has been for ten years."
Gareth grabbed Thane by the collar.
"Where is Edric?"
Thane's eyes filled with shame.
"Under High Keep."
Nobody spoke.
"Under?" Toby whispered.
Thane nodded.
"Morvus didn't seize the throne from Edric."
His voice cracked.
"Edric gave it to him."
Gareth released him.
"What?"
"The massacre was Edric's plan."
Ysara stared at Thane.
"No."
"He discovered the prison was failing. He believed the royal family had become corrupted by the sacrifices."
Cael's expression was unreadable.
Thane continued.
"Edric staged his disappearance and ordered Morvus to take control while he descended below High Keep."
"To do what?"
"Guard the final gate."
A terrible possibility formed in Gareth's mind.
"If Edric has been beneath High Keep for ten years..."
Thane nodded.
"He has the third key."
A sudden knock struck the lodge door.
Everyone froze.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
One of Thane's guards opened it cautiously.
Nobody stood outside.
Only a small wooden box rested on the step.
Gareth approached.
"Don't touch it," Cael warned.
Too late.
Gareth opened the box.
Inside was a severed human finger wearing a royal signet ring.
Thane staggered backward.
"Edric's ring."
Beneath it lay a folded message.
Toby opened it.
Three lines.
THE SECOND GATE OPENS AT MIDNIGHT.
BRING BOTH TWINS TO HIGH KEEP.
OR I WILL OPEN THE THIRD MYSELF.
Toby looked at Cael.
"Who sent this?"
Cael stared at the severed finger.
For the first time since entering the lodge, his confidence disappeared.
Because carved into the flesh was the same symbol burned across his chest.
Three vertical lines inside a circle.
The mark of the supposedly extinct Lantern Order.
And beneath the message was a final signature.
Not Morvus.
Not Veyron.
Not Edric.
Toby read the name aloud.
"Queen Elara."