Chapter 22: Truth Without Proof
The walk back to the palace was quiet.
Far too quiet.
Even Andre wasn't talking.
Which was honestly more unsettling than the dead officer.
Kai glanced at him.
"You've been silent for ten minutes."
Andre shrugged.
"Thinking."
Kai stopped walking.
"You're what?"
"Thinking."
Kai stared.
Andre stared back.
"What?"
"I didn't know you could do that."
"Go fuck yourself."
The brief exchange helped.
Only slightly.
The image of Captain Harlow still lingered in Kai's mind.
The crossbow bolt.
The perfect timing.
The impossible shot.
Someone had been watching.
Watching the cultists.
Watching Harlow.
Watching them.
Waiting for the exact moment to pull the trigger.
That thought bothered Kai more than anything else.
They had walked directly into someone else's plan.
And that someone had escaped.
Again.
By the time they reached the palace, night had fully fallen over Yggdrasil.
Guards immediately let them through.
The king was still awake.
Unsurprisingly.
Akshay sat behind a mountain of reports.
The moment he saw them, he frowned.
"You look terrible."
Andre pointed at Kai.
"He's emotional."
Kai ignored him.
"We found a traitor."
Akshay immediately stood.
The exhaustion vanished from his face.
"What?"
Kai explained everything.
The archives.
The missing shipment records.
The suspicious officer.
The secret meeting.
The cultists.
The room grew quieter with every sentence.
Then he reached the ending.
The crossbow bolt.
The silence afterward felt heavy.
Akshay slowly sat back down.
His expression dark.
"Captain Harlow."
Kai nodded.
"You knew him?"
"Of course."
The king looked away.
"He served this city for years."
There was disappointment in his voice.
And anger.
Mostly anger.
Andre crossed his arms.
"So now what?"
Akshay immediately answered.
"We arrest everyone connected to him."
Kai hesitated.
"It's not that simple."
The king looked at him.
Kai hated what he was about to say.
Because he knew how it sounded.
"We don't actually have proof."
The words hung in the air.
Akshay didn't reply immediately.
Because he knew Kai was right.
The cultists escaped.
The documents were gone.
The witness was dead.
Everything pointed toward a conspiracy.
Yet nothing could be proven.
Not officially.
Not publicly.
The king slowly rubbed his forehead.
"I hate politics."
Andre nodded.
"Same."
For completely different reasons.
A knock interrupted them.
The palace doors opened.
Commander Jack entered.
The military officer immediately noticed the atmosphere.
"Did something happen?"
Akshay looked up.
"Captain Harlow is dead."
Jack froze.
Only briefly.
But Kai noticed it.
A fraction of a second.
Then the commander composed himself.
"What happened?"
The king explained.
Everything.
Jack listened carefully.
Never interrupting.
Never reacting dramatically.
When Akshay finished, the commander folded his arms.
"A serious accusation."
Kai immediately felt annoyed.
Not because Jack was wrong.
Because he was right.
Again.
"We saw him."
Andre said.
"We literally caught him."
Jack nodded.
"I believe you."
The room went silent.
That wasn't the response Kai expected.
The commander continued.
"But belief isn't proof."
Kai hated hearing that sentence twice.
Especially because it remained true.
Jack walked toward the window.
Looking out over the city.
"If we start arresting officers based on accusations..."
He paused.
"The city could fracture."
Akshay clenched his jaw.
He knew it too.
The military was already nervous.
The citizens already afraid.
One wrong move could cause chaos.
The commander turned back.
"Let me investigate."
The room became quiet.
Jack looked directly at the king.
"I'll find out who was working with Harlow."
Akshay stared at him.
Then slowly nodded.
"Fine."
The decision seemed reasonable.
Logical.
Responsible.
Exactly the decision a king should make.
Yet Kai felt uneasy.
Again.
That same feeling.
The one he'd had ever since meeting Jack.
Not suspicion.
Not certainty.
Just discomfort.
Like a puzzle piece that almost fit.
Almost.
Later that night, long after everyone had gone to sleep, Kai sat alone on a palace balcony.
Rain continued falling over Yggdrasil.
The city lights shimmered below.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
A lie.
Kai reached into his pocket.
Something he had taken from the abandoned building.
Something he'd forgotten to mention.
A torn piece of paper.
Recovered from beneath the broken table.
Most of the writing had been destroyed.
Only a few words remained readable.
Kai stared at them.
And immediately felt cold.
Because one of those words was:
Akshay.
Another was:
Removal.
And the final surviving word was:
Ceremony.
For the first time, Kai wondered if the conspiracy wasn't targeting Yggdrasil itself.
Maybe...
It was targeting the king.