Cyrus looked between them and finally smiled properly, though it lasted only a mont. "You are helping."
Zyran looked very pleased. "Of course I am. I am a treasure."
Isabella muttered, "A cursed one."
"A rare one."
"A troubleso one."
"A treasured troubleso curse."
She laughed again, and Cyrus felt relief move through him so strongly that he almost had to look away. As long as she could still laugh, he could breathe. As long as she could still glare at Zyran and complain about the babies being rude, he could tell himself there was still ti to prepare.
anwhile, Osiris had already failed his task.
Completely.
Cyrus had given him clear instructions.
Very clear instructions.
Find Kian.
Tell Kian quietly.
Ask him to find experienced won.
Do not frighten the palace.
Do not scream.
Do not let panic lead the way.
Osiris rembered all of it for about seven breaths.
Then the panic ate the rest.
At that mont, Kian was in one of the smaller guard rooms near the front section of the palace. The room had a low fire, a wide hide map spread across a stone table, and small carved pieces marking the watch routes around the walls and outer paths. The snow outside had been growing thicker, so Kian had been adjusting patrol positions because Isabella’s warning about an attack had already settled deeply in his mind.
Several guards stood around the table, listening as Kian pointed to the western ridge and the storehouse side route.
"The watch near the frozen stream changes first," Kian said. "Do not leave that path empty, even for a breath. If the snow grows heavier, double the ears at the north wall."
The guards nodded at once.
Luca was also there, standing near one side of the room with his arms folded and his brows slightly furrowed. He was listening properly, though his eyes kept moving over the map as if he was already thinking about what could go wrong. Asael stood nearer to Kian, as usual, his posture straight and his face serious. As Kian’s right-hand man, he rarely wasted words, but his eyes were sharp and steady.
Then the door burst open.
Osiris practically flew in.
His fiery blond hair was disordered, his eyes were wide, and the panic on his face was so obvious that even the guards closest to the door shifted at once.
Kian’s first instinct was irritation.
Because this was Osiris.
And Osiris had a talent for entering rooms as if sothing was on fire even when nothing was on fire, which was even more annoying because sotis he himself was the fire. So for one breath, Kian looked ready to tell him to leave before he ruined the route discussion.
Then he saw Osiris’s face properly.
The words stopped.
Kian’s eyes narrowed.
"Leave," he told the guards.
The guards did not question him. They bowed and moved out quickly, taking the cold air and the sound of hide curtains with them.
Luca stayed because Luca was Luca, and because leaving a room when sothing clearly interesting was happening was against his personal morals.
Asael stayed because Kian had not ordered him out.
Kian looked at Osiris. "Speak."
Osiris walked closer.
For once, he tried to obey the whisper part.
He really did.
He leaned toward Kian, lowered his voice, and whispered, "Isabella will be giving birth soon."
The words were low.
Very low.
Unfortunately, Kian’s reaction was not.
His blue eyes widened.
Only a little.
But for Kian, that was practically screaming.
Then he repeated, "Isabella is giving birth soon?"
The room froze.
Luca’s head snapped toward them so quickly that he almost gave himself neck pain.
Asael’s face changed at once too, and even though he did not speak, his eyes sharpened with complete alarm.
Osiris’s face went pale.
Then he pointed at Kian imdiately. "If Cyrus asks, it was you, not ."
Luca stared at him.
Asael stared at him.
Kian was already on his feet.
The carved pieces on the map shifted slightly from how fast he moved, and for one second, the whole guard room felt too small for the force coming off him. His white hair moved over his shoulder as he strode toward the door, and his face had gone so cold that even Osiris, panicked as he was, almost stepped out of his way by instinct.
Then Osiris rembered Cyrus.
"Be calm!" he called after Kian while rushing to follow him. "Cyrus said to be calm!"
Kian did not slow down.
Osiris hurried behind him. "He also said to find experienced won, but I told you first, so that ans you should do it."
Kian still did not answer.
Luca followed too because there was no universe where he would hear Isabella might be giving birth and calmly remain in a guard room. His face looked shocked and worried, and although he tried to act composed, his steps were too quick.
Asael had no choice but to follow as well.
Not because he wanted to crowd the room, but because if Kian was moving like that, then sothing important was happening, and a right-hand man who stayed behind during that kind of mont deserved to be beaten by duty itself.
The corridor outside felt much colder than the guard room.
Kian moved fast through it, his body full of the kind of silent panic that only looked like anger because his face refused to show fear properly. His mind was already racing. Isabella had looked tired earlier. She had been standing too long. She had gone to speak with Zara. She had warned him about an attack. And now she might be giving birth.
The thought was too much.
Behind him, Osiris was still trying to be helpful.
"Cyrus said quickly and calmly," he said, half to himself and half to everyone else. "I am being calm."
Luca looked at him. "You burst into the room."
"I whispered."
"Kian repeated it."
"That was Kian."
Luca actually had no answer for that.
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