Chapter 3 - The Secret Beneath the Chapel
The Ashen Circle had been a rumor when Rosaline was young.
A ghost story.
A warning told to wolf pups who wandered too far from camp.
Don't travel alone after dark.
Don't follow black banners.
And never trust a man with an ash-gray wolf.
Now the symbol lay in front of her.
Real.
Powerful.
Close.
Kalin summoned his council that night.
Thomas spread maps across the table.
“Three caravans disappeared this month.”
“From where?”
“York. Ironclad. Redpine.”
Rosaline studied the routes.
“They all passed through the same valley.”
Thomas nodded.
“The Frostpass.”
Kalin pointed.
“What's here?”
“A mining settlement.”
Rosaline looked closer.
“Silver mines.”
Kalin went still.
“Exactly.”
Rosaline's mind raced.
Silver could suppress wolves.
Silver weapons could kill Alphas.
Whoever controlled those mines controlled a weapon capable of destabilizing every northern pack.
“Harrington wasn't just stealing money,” she whispered.
“He was buying silver,” Kalin said.
“And weapons.”
Thomas looked at them.
“That means the Ashen Circle is building an army.”
Kalin nodded.
Rosaline suddenly remembered something.
“Richard knew.”
Kalin looked at her.
“What?”
“He had asked me to inventory his medicine stores two days before he died.”
She thought carefully.
“He kept a private ledger.”
“Where?”
“In the old chapel.”
Kalin frowned.
“Harrington searched the chapel after Richard died.”
“Why?”
“Because he was looking for something.”
Rosaline stood.
“Then we search again.”
Kalin immediately followed.
The old chapel stood on the western edge of the castle.
The doors were damaged by the siege.
Dust covered the pews.
Rosaline remembered Richard bringing her there when she was sixteen.
He had told her that healers needed quiet places because medicine was as much about listening as knowledge.
She walked toward the altar.
Kalin followed.
“What are you looking for?”
“I don't know.”
She placed her hand against the stone.
Her fingers found a groove.
“Here.”
Kalin pressed.
Nothing.
Rosaline tried another stone.
A hidden panel clicked.
Thomas stared.
“There was a compartment?”
Richard had hidden a small wooden box inside.
Inside the box was a ring.
And a letter.
Rosaline unfolded it.
Rosaline,
If I am gone, I failed to protect you.
Her heart stopped.
Kalin moved closer.
The letter continued.
Harrington is not acting alone.
There is someone inside York who has betrayed us for years.
Do not trust the council.
Do not trust the captain of the guard.
And above all, do not trust the person who offers protection too quickly.
Rosaline looked at Kalin.
He read the last line.
There was another note beneath it.
Find the wolf beneath the chapel.
Rosaline frowned.
“The wolf?”
Kalin turned toward the floor.
A stone carving showed a wolf head.
He pressed it.
The floor opened.
A staircase descended.
They entered a hidden chamber.
Inside were old weapons.
Maps.
And dozens of letters.
Kalin opened one.
His face became unreadable.
“What?”
He handed it to Rosaline.
She read the signature.
Harrington.
But the recipient was not who she expected.
Lord Caster.
Kalin's adviser.
Thomas's face went pale.
“No.”
Rosaline looked at him.
“Your own council?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Caster served King Kalin's father.”
Kalin stared at the letters.
“My father trusted him.”
“Then we've found another traitor,” Rosaline said.
Suddenly the door above slammed.
Footsteps.
Kalin reached for his sword.
“We're not alone.”
A voice echoed through the chapel.
“Your Majesty.”
Lord Caster.
Kalin smiled coldly.
“You always did enjoy appearing at convenient moments.”
Caster laughed.
“You were never supposed to find this.”
Thomas drew his weapon.
Rosaline stepped backward.
Caster called out:
“Hand over the healer.”
Kalin's eyes turned gold.
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Caster's voice sharpened.
“She is the blood key.”
Rosaline's chest tightened.
“What?”
Caster laughed.
“You never told her, did you?”
Kalin looked at Rosaline.
“I don't know what he's talking about.”
Caster shouted:
“Ask her about her mother!”
Rosaline froze.
Her mother.
A woman she had barely remembered.
She had always been told her mother died when Rosaline was a child.
Kalin looked at her.
“Rosaline?”
“I don't know.”
Caster laughed again.
“You don't know because Richard erased her history.”
The hidden chamber shook as guards began pounding on the door.
Kalin reached for Rosaline's hand.
“Whatever happens, stay behind me.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because you're my mate.”
“And?”
His voice lowered.
“Because I won't lose you.”
The door exploded.
Ironclad soldiers fought through the passage.
Caster fled.
Thomas chased him.
Kalin grabbed Rosaline and pulled her toward another exit.
They climbed through a narrow tunnel.
When they emerged, snow had begun falling.
Rosaline looked back at the castle.
“What did he mean by blood key?”
Kalin remained silent.
“Tell me.”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
He looked at her.
“I wouldn't.”
She studied him.
Then she realized he was telling the truth.
Whatever secret surrounded her mother, Kalin didn't know it either.
And that frightened her more than anything.
Because if Richard had hidden her family history, then Rosaline herself might be connected to the war unfolding around them.
That night, she dreamed.
A woman singing.
A silver wolf.
A baby crying.
And a voice saying:
“Hide her before the king finds out what she is.”
Rosaline woke screaming.
Kalin was beside her immediately.
“What happened?”
She stared at him.
“I remember my mother.”
His face softened.
“What did you see?”
Rosaline whispered:
“She wasn't afraid of monsters.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“She was afraid of wolves.”
