Chapter 73 – The Enemy That Watches Closely
The room Isolade had been hiding in barely deserved to be called a room.
It was small, windowless, and buried beneath one of the abandoned towers along the western edge of Blackmoor where servants no longer cleaned and guards rarely patrolled. The air slled faintly of damp stone and old smoke, and the candle burning near the table beside her had already lted halfway down without being replaced.
Still, it was safe.
Safer than the fortress above.
Safer than standing too close to Seraphina while pretending she wasn’t terrified.
Isolade sat near the narrow bed with one leg crossed over the other, slowly tightening the bandage around her wrist where the silver burn still hadn’t healed properly. The wound throbbed every now and then, sharp enough to irritate her, but not enough to matter.
Her thoughts were elsewhere.
On Liora.
Again.
Ever since the ceremony, everything had shifted in ways she didn’t like. At first, she had been certain Liora would break quickly. A wolfless girl forced into Blackmoor, thrown beside Kael, surrounded by wolves stronger than her in every possible way? It should have been easy. Fear alone should have destroyed her eventually.
But Liora kept surviving.
That was the problem.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Each ti she should have collapsed, she adapted instead, and Isolade hated that more than she hated open resistance because it made Liora dangerous in a way people didn’t imdiately notice.
The fortress had started reacting to her too.
Not openly yet, but enough.
Servants lowered their voices when speaking about her now. Guards watched her differently. Even the warriors training in the courtyard had beco careful with their words whenever her na ca up.
People were beginning to pay attention.
And Seraphina had noticed it too.
That was what worried Isolade the most.
A knock sounded against the hidden door.
Two taps.
Then silence.
Isolade’s fingers paused briefly against the bandage before she stood.
No one ca here unless invited.
She crossed the room carefully and pulled the door open just enough for the cloaked figure outside to slip in before locking it again.
Seraphina lowered her hood slowly.
Even now, Isolade fought the instinct to lower her gaze.
The older woman carried power too naturally. It sat on her without effort, cold and controlled and impossible to fully read no matter how long you looked at her.
"You disappeared longer than expected," Seraphina said calmly.
"I had to avoid Kael’s guards."
"Did you?"
The question sounded harmless, but Isolade knew better than to misunderstand Seraphina’s tone.
She leaned lightly against the table instead. "He’s searching for ."
"He searches for many things lately."
Isolade almost smiled at that.
"Yes," she said softly. "Including answers about you."
Seraphina’s expression didn’t change.
That alone confird enough.
The silence stretched briefly before Seraphina moved deeper into the room, her attention shifting toward the candlelight.
"What did you see?" she asked.
Isolade already knew who she ant.
"Liora’s getting worse," she answered honestly. "Her body is unstable. She’s hiding it, but not well enough."
"And the awakening?"
Isolade hesitated this ti.
Not because she feared the answer.
Because she hated it.
"It’s happening."
The room fell quiet again.
Seraphina’s gaze lowered slightly, thoughtful rather than surprised, and that irritated Isolade imdiately because she was starting to realize the older woman had expected this long before anyone else did.
"You sound displeased," Seraphina noted.
"I am."
"Because she survived?"
"Because she’s changing too fast."
The words ca out sharper than Isolade intended, but she didn’t take them back.
"She was supposed to weaken after the ceremony," she continued. "Instead Kael beca more protective, the fortress beca unstable, and now people are starting to look at her like she matters."
"She does matter."
The calm certainty in Seraphina’s voice made Isolade’s stomach tighten slightly.
That was the difference between them.
To Isolade, Liora was an obstacle.
To Seraphina—
Liora was sothing else entirely.
Sothing important.
And Isolade was beginning to hate whatever that ant.
"She’s still wolfless," Isolade said carefully. "Whatever you think she is, it hasn’t fully awakened yet."
"No," Seraphina agreed softly. "Not yet."
Sothing about the way she said it unsettled Isolade imdiately.
Not fear.
Expectation.
As though she was waiting for a specific mont to arrive.
Isolade folded her arms loosely. "You still haven’t told what happens if she awakens completely."
Seraphina looked at her then.
Actually looked at her.
"You wouldn’t survive it."
The answer ca without hesitation.
A cold silence settled heavily between them.
Isolade forced herself not to react visibly even though her chest tightened slightly beneath the calm expression she maintained.
"You said the sa thing about the previous wives."
"Because it was true."
"They died."
"Yes."
The single word landed hard.
Not emotional.
Not regretful.
Simply factual.
Isolade stared at her for a mont before speaking again. "And if Liora survives?"
Seraphina’s eyes sharpened slightly.
"That," she said quietly, "is what I intend to discover."
There it was again.
Not hatred.
Not revenge.
Obsession.
For the first ti since aligning herself with Seraphina, Isolade felt sothing colder than caution move through her.
Because she was starting to understand sothing dangerous.
Seraphina did not care who died during this process.
Not the previous wives.
Not Kael.
Not even Isolade herself.
Only the result mattered.
The realization settled heavily in her chest, but she hid it quickly.
"What do you want to do?" she asked instead.
Seraphina studied her briefly before answering.
"Watch her."
"That’s all?"
"For now."
Isolade frowned slightly. "You don’t want her removed?"
"No."
The answer ca too quickly.
"She still has a role to play," Seraphina continued. "Killing her now would be wasteful."
Isolade’s jaw tightened faintly.
That wasn’t the answer she wanted.
Because every day Liora remained alive made Kael drift further away from everyone else around him, including her.
She had spent years positioning herself carefully beside him, surviving the politics of Blackmoor, enduring Seraphina’s manipulations, waiting for the right mont to beco Luna permanently.
Then Liora appeared and destroyed all of it without even trying.
Kael looked at Liora differently.
That was the part Isolade could never forgive.
Not desire.
Not obligation.
Sothing worse.
Choice.
And Kael almost never chose anyone.
"He’s already attached to her," Isolade said quietly. "You know that."
"Yes."
"And you still think this ends cleanly?"
Seraphina’s expression remained unreadable.
"There has never been anything clean about Blackmoor."
The words settled heavily between them.
Isolade looked away first.
Her gaze drifted toward the weak candlelight flickering against the stone wall as thoughts moved quietly through her head.
Liora training despite her unstable body.
Liora hiding injuries.
Liora trying desperately to survive sothing she didn’t fully understand yet.
A slow smile touched Isolade’s mouth before she could stop it.
Not because she was amused.
Because suddenly she understood exactly where the real weakness was.
Liora was trying too hard to stay strong.
People like that always broke eventually.
Especially when they trusted the wrong person.
"You’re thinking too loudly," Seraphina said calmly.
Isolade glanced back toward her.
Then she smiled properly this ti.
"I don’t want her dead yet."
Seraphina remained silent.
"I want her exhausted," Isolade continued softly. "Scared. Isolated. I want her doubting every instinct she has until she stops knowing who to trust."
A pause.
"Then," she added quietly, "when she’s weak enough... she’ll break on her own."
Seraphina watched her carefully for a long mont.
"And Kael?"
That na shifted sothing darker inside Isolade imdiately.
"He’ll choose her," she admitted. "At least at first."
"Then why are you smiling?"
Isolade’s expression softened slightly, almost thoughtful.
"Because people fall faster when betrayal cos from soone they trust."
The room went silent again after that.
Seraphina said nothing else before turning toward the door.
But just before leaving, she stopped.
"Be careful not to underestimate her."
Isolade leaned lightly against the table again.
"I’m not underestimating her," she said calmly.
Her eyes darkened slightly as she thought about Liora again.
"I’m studying her."
Then, after a brief pause, she smiled faintly.
"She’ll fall faster if it’s soone she trusts who finishes it."
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