Chapter 1118: The Forgotten Palace [Part 5]

Chapter 1118 – The Forgotten Palace [Part 5]

They continued.

The corridor turned left, then right, then down through a stairwell that looked like it had once been lined with gold. Only flakes remained now, clinging stubbornly to the walls like old wealth refusing bankruptcy. Lux brushed one fingertip near the railing and watched the dust shimmer.

Gold leaf.

Real.

Wasteful.

"Kaelmor inherited or stole this place?" he whispered.

Cyrinne glanced around. "Both, probably."

At the bottom of the stairs, the air changed.

He felt it first as pressure against his teeth. Then a bitter taste on the back of his tongue. Wards. Fresh ones, not ancient. Royal installation. The corridor opened into a gallery lined with cracked mirrors, but unlike Cyrinne’s mansion mirrors, these did not show desire.

They showed mistakes.

Lux caught a glimpse before he looked away.

Naomi alone at the Delacour estate, reaching for him and finding empty air.

Gula smiling while pretending hunger could cover fear.

Runa turning back into stone because he arrived too late.

His father standing over a ledger, disappointed.

His own hands covered in gold light, holding too many contracts to save everyone.

Lux’s jaw tightened.

Cheap trick.

Cyrinne’s face had gone pale beside him.

Envy hated mirrors that looked back honestly.

"Don’t stare," Lux murmured.

"Obviously," she whispered, voice thinner than before.

The gallery had four guards.

Two at the far end, one patrolling the center, one seated near a brazier of green-black flame. The seated one held a horn-shaped alarm charm in his lap.

Wonderful.

Lux hated horns.

Not aesthetically. His own were excellent.

The seated guard was the problem. If startled, he could blow the alarm before Lux crossed half the room.

Cyrinne leaned close. "I can distract him."

"Too risky."

Lux scanned the floor. Broken glass. Old carpet strips. Pillars with enough shadow to hide half a body, not a full one. The central patrol turned every eight seconds. Far guards spoke rarely. Seated guard stared at nothing, but his fingers remained around the horn.

A quiet kill would require removing the horn first.

Lux exhaled slowly.

Then moved.

He stepped into the gallery not as a shadow this time, but as reflection. The mirrors were broken, and he used that. Each step carried him through blind angles, letting fractured images cover his approach. One mirror showed his shoulder half a second late. Another reflected him three feet to the left. He leaned into the distortion, letting the room lie for him.

The central guard paused.

Lux dropped flat behind a broken divan.

The guard turned.

Cyrinne, at the entrance, whispered one word.

A mirror behind the guard showed something impossible. Another patrol passing in the opposite direction.

The guard looked at it.

Mistake.

Lux rose behind him and caught his helmet from behind, twisting just enough to expose the rune beneath the back plate. Blade in. Rune out. Pommel strike. Body down. He caught the armor, lowered it behind the divan, and slid forward before the far guards turned.

Seated guard next.

Lux crossed the carpet strip, feet soundless. His dagger reversed.

Three steps.

Two.

One.

The seated guard’s fingers tightened on the horn.

His head turned.

For one insane heartbeat, their eyes met.

Alarm.

Lux threw his right dagger.

The blade struck the horn, not the guard.

It pierced through the mouthpiece and pinned it to the brazier stand with a soft metallic click.

Too loud.

The far guards heard.

Both turned.

"Hey—"

Cyrinne moved like envy given legs.

The mirrors exploded with versions of her.

Five Cyrinnes. Ten. Twenty. Each one stepping from glass, smiling with different mouths, different eyes, different promises.

The far guards froze, overwhelmed.

Lux reached the seated guard.

The man lunged for the broken horn.

Lux caught his wrist, pulled him forward, and drove his knee into the armor seam beneath the ribs. Air left the guard in a silent burst. Lux’s left dagger slid under the collar, killing the alarm rune. Then he shoved the man’s head down against the table edge with enough force to end the argument.

The far guards broke from Cyrinne’s illusion sooner than expected.

Damn.

One raised a flare stone.

Red light sparked.

Lux’s body moved before thought finished swearing.

He snatched his thrown dagger from the horn, spun, and released it again. The blade crossed the gallery and struck the flare stone from the guard’s hand just as it ignited. Red light streaked upward.

Cyrinne caught it.

Barely.

A green-black veil snapped over the flare like a hand closing around a scream. The light bulged against her magic, furious, pulsing, trying to break. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Lux sprinted.

No stealth now.

Speed.

The first far guard drew his blade.

Lux slid under the swing, boots whispering across broken glass, and cut the man’s knee joint. Not deep enough for gore. Deep enough to drop him. As the guard fell, Lux rose behind him and drove one dagger into the collar rune, the other into the spine node. Clean. Immediate.

The second guard tried to shout.

Lux caught his throat with his forearm, slammed him backward against a mirror, and stabbed the alarm rune at his chest. The mirror cracked behind them. The sound rang sharp.

Too sharp.

From beyond the gallery, footsteps stirred.

Lux and Cyrinne froze.

The green veil around the flare stone trembled.

Cyrinne’s teeth clenched. "Lux."

"I know."

He grabbed the last guard before the body fell and dragged him behind the cracked mirror frame. Cyrinne compressed the flare light smaller, smaller, smaller, until it looked like a dying ember trapped in her palm. Her breathing shook. Spiritual form or not, effort still had cost.

Footsteps approached the gallery entrance.

Three guards.

Maybe four.

Lux looked at the bodies.

Not hidden well enough.

Bad.

Very bad.

He moved fast, not pretty now. The dead seated guard went behind the brazier. The central guard’s boot stuck out. Lux shoved it under the carpet. One far guard’s bloodless armor scraped softly against glass.

The footsteps stopped.

A voice outside said, "Report."

Lux’s eyes snapped to Cyrinne.

She looked at him.

Her expression said ’absolutely not.’

Lux’s expression said ’absolutely yes.’