[Note from the Haelionthyne, the Original Author of The Hybrid: Chasing Destiny: This novel is only published and freely available to read on my Patreon, Royal Road and Tapas. Support me directly with your readership there. No other websites or reading platforms have my permission, express or blanket, to publish my novel or distribute it further.]

Caeden pushed into Ava’s room with her semi-conscious body in his arms. Her temperature was rising. The heat from her small frame almost seared through her clothes and into his arms. She could not hold out like this for long.

Oswin’s study group was already waiting inside, groggy-eyed, but they moved into action as soon as he entered. He will admit that Kael’s assassins were as efficient as they were skilled, regardless of how much their skulking disturbed him.

He placed Ava on the bed and left her to Graeyson’s ministrations.

Kael entered when he exited into the lounging room, focused to the point of distraction on removing dust and cobwebs from a miniature in his hands. There was wonder in his eyes.

Caeden raised a curious brow and looked closely at what had his brother’s rapt attention. His heart lurched when he recognised the old toy.

“Give me that!” he muttered, embarrassed.

“No! She said you left it for me,” Kael smirked. “It is mine now.”

He had forgotten that he had left the Tekkhan toy in their secret stash. His last attempt, his last hope, to mend the rift he had caused between them. It was a mortifying thought to have Kael find it now.

“You are childish,” Caeden hissed.

“Me?” Kael asked with mock innocence. “I am not the one trying to start a fight over an old toy.”

Kael swayed joyously on his feet. Caeden had not seen that spark in his brother’s eyes in a long time. He had missed the smile he tried to hide whenever he looked at the toy. It was like his brother was returning to life, back to his old self.

They heard heavy footsteps up the hall and Ser Morley entered, holding a piece of fabric and Ava’s recovered dagger in his hand.

“Get out!” Kael exclaimed. His glad expression turned dark in an instant.

“Hold Kael,” Caeden muttered, taken aback by just how much the Knight Commander seemed to vex his brother. He would have to keep them separate from now on. “What is your report, Ser Morley?”

“It is possible that the handmaiden, Gretchen, could have been paid off. Her letters home came with a pouch of gold and expressed her excitement over a recent promotion. However, she was unusually tightlipped about the details,” Ser Morley stated. If he was perturbed by Kael's behaviour, he did not show it.

“The knights were in plain clothes, and there was nothing on them to identify who they were. We are searching the guild records to match their names and current assignments. It is clear they did not account for Kael’s assassin following Ava. It is only a matter of time before their commander comes to light.”

“Time is not a luxury we have, Ser Morley,” Caeden pondered. “Ava is deteriorating, and we need an antidote, the sooner the better. Whatever you need to speed it up. Do it.”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Ser Morley took a deep breath and exhaled. “Ser Derric’s body has been released to his family. They will have his funeral this Zinnia’s Day and have inquired whether you would be attending,” he asked, offering Caeden the piece of fabric.

“Of course,” Caeden confirmed.

He frowned disapprovingly as Kael turned on his heel and left the room in a huff. He took the fabric from Ser Morley with a small measure of undisguised annoyance at his brother’s behaviour.

It was a white, silken handkerchief. Cleaned, but brown washed-out blood stains still remained.

“What is this?” he asked his Knight Commander.

“Ser Derric’s family would like it returned to Miss Ava.”

Caeden turned the handkerchief over in confusion. Sure, he had seen Ava marvel at luxurious items before, but her current lifestyle dictated that she prioritise function. This frivolous fabric was mostly decorative, serving more as a lady’s favour. Ava would have no use for it.

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He marched into Ava’s room and roused her from her fitful sleep, much to Oswin’s and Graeyson's dismay. She moaned unhappily, pain entering her distant eyes.

“My apologies for disturbing you. This handkerchief,” he asked, holding the fabric before her eyes. “Is it yours?”

“Ser Derric’s,” she muttered, pulling the fabric closer. “He had it in his hand… to stop the bleeding.”

“Alright, go back to sleep.”

He pulled on the handkerchief and found that she would not release it.

“I would like to keep it… to remember,” she grimaced. Her eyes were sad.

“Not just yet,” he said, rubbing her head in comfort, and pulling the fabric free when her grip eased from exhaustion.

“Did Ser Derric have a lady love we were unaware of?” he asked Ser Morley.

“None that his family knows of. He was committed to his duty and had neither the time nor inclination to nurture a long-term relationship,” he responded. “His lack of defensive injuries and unsheathed sword indicates that he was caught off guard, but he could have ripped this off his attacker in a desperate attempt to try and identify them.”

They unfolded the handkerchief and looked it over. Caeden squinted at the crest embroidered in one of its corners — green grapes on a purple background — the sigil of the ruling noble house Rymsworth in the Everard Kingdom.

Caeden scrunched the handkerchief in his palm. Rage overcame his body. He charged out the door.

“Stay,” he growled when the Knight Commander followed.

----------------------------------------

Caeden could feel the blood pounding through his veins. Anger squeezed around his chest so tightly that he could scarcely breathe.

He charged up the stairs and through the passageway to Lady Bethany’s quarters but stopped short when he heard another’s hissed whisper coming from her room. Caeden moved into a shadowed alcove, his heart hammering, and listened in shock.

“Give me the antidote, Bethany! I will not ask again,” Kael whispered menacingly.

Were they on familiar terms? When did this happen? Did mother know? No, this was a kept secret.

“I – told you. I have no idea what you are talking about, fool!” Bethany hissed back angrily.

Kael laughed mirthlessly.

“You have precious few strategies left in this dance, my dear. Playing dumb is not one of them. They found your favour. It is only a matter of time before they connect it to you. Cooperate and I will see you through this.”

“Ha! With what power, puppet prince?” she taunted venomously. “Besides, a favour means nothing. It is not my fault that some wayward knight decided to keep it on their person.”

“Yes, indeed an error on his part,” Kael responded annoyed. “But I have to wonder, just what did you do to earn such devotion to the exclusion of common sense?”

“Get out! Or I shall tell Lady Ella – or Prince Caeden,” she ordered. Her voice quivered. She was discomforted by the implications of his question.

“Poor Lady Bethany! You had both princes wrapped around your finger and the Empire's future in the cusp of your hands. Until a nobody girl from nowhere showed up and gave us exactly what we wanted without batting an eye. You may offer my brother the crown, but she offers him the stars. If I have little power here, you have even less now. Caeden and Ella will not take your side over mine. Especially after I show them the favour you bestowed upon me and relay exactly what I did to earn it,” he stressed.

A smack echoed from the room and down the hall. There was a tense silence and Caeden shifted uncomfortably. Should I interrupt before this escalates further?

“How quickly your affections change. It was not too long ago that you were kissing that cheek. Do not do that again,” Kael said coldly. “Now, give me the antidote before I lose my patience.”

“Or what?” she retorted, the venom in her trembling voice returning. “Will you show me how inept you are? I think I will let that whore die just to prove it.”

There was a scuffle and then bumps and grunts within the room. Caeden rushed out of his hiding place to her door.

“You are choking me!” Bethany rasped.

“I know!” his brother responded. His voice sounded almost maniacal. “Tell me where the antidote is, or I will squeeze tighter.”

A struggle of breathless squeaks followed.

“Alright. Alright!” Bethany grunted.

She gasped when Kael released her, falling to the floor and clutching her neck.

“I was not provided with an antidote, just the poison. It is in the chest there.”

He heard Kael's footsteps cross the room and the creak of a chest opening. His brother rummaged through its contents as Caeden slinked back to his hiding place.

“Ingenious, hiding it in a perfume bottle. How did you get your hands on it?” Kael’s usual drawl was back.

“I did not. I found it in my room. A note with information and instructions was attached. All they asked for in return was the satchel with the inactive Frost Spirit. Niklaus and Micca were to travel out and leave it at the God Stones.”

“So familiar you are with them,” Kael gritted out harshly. “Give me the note.”

“I – burned it.”

“Fool!” Kael blurted enraged. “You destroyed the only evidence that ties back to whoever engineered this treacherous plot. You are now the only connection left to Ava’s attack.”

“The – they said to burn it and keep the remainder of the poison just in case it was needed again,” she stammered nervously.

“Clearly, they were counting on your single-minded ambition rendering you senseless and made sure any investigation ultimately ended with you responsible.”

“Kael help me,” Bethany whined.

His brother grumbled with annoyance and paced the floor.

“Pack your belongings. Leave Castle Caedence and return home. This is as much as I can offer you.”

“What? No!” Bethany growled before changing tack. “I made a few mistakes. I understand that. But we can – forget everything, can we not? And start anew. Let us – be together, Kael. You and I.”

Kael huffed a disbelieving, mirthless laugh.

“A few days ago, I would have relished the thought. But you have endangered the empire for your own selfish reasons and left yourself vulnerable to possible malicious influence in future. You have the wrong type of ambition, Bethany, and have fumbled the dance for the Queen’s throne. It would be irresponsible of me to allow you anywhere near the crown. Go home with your family name and reputation intact while you still can.”

The door swung open.

“And I suggest that you do not leave your room until I have cleared the mess you have caused.”

Kael hurried down the hall and passed Caeden's shaded alcove. He was about to turn the corner when a crash of shattered glass came from Bethany’s room. He stopped and stared at the door in disgust before his eyes found Caeden’s in the dark.

There was shock at first and then nothing. His expression turned empty and stoic as he placed the poison on a table nearby and disappeared from view.