Chapter 54: Chapter 55: You’re fired

Elara’s pov

My feet carried me through the palace hallways, but I could not feel them moving. Everything around me looked blurry, like I was walking through water. The stone walls passed by on both sides. The torches on the walls gave off orange light. My dress made soft sounds as I walked. But none of it felt real.

Behind me, I could hear Kaelen’s boots hitting the floor. He was following me. Each step he took sounded angry, hard, like he was fighting to control himself.

We walked in silence. The only sounds were our footsteps and my breathing, which came too fast. My chest felt tight. My hands were shaking. I pressed them against my stomach, trying to stop the shaking, but it did not work.

We needed to get far from the courtyard. Far from where everyone had seen what I did to King Thorin. Far from their watching eyes and their judging faces.

When we finally reached a quiet part of the palace, far enough that no one else could hear us, Kaelen spoke.

“That was reckless.”

His voice was low. Tight. Like he was holding back a storm inside himself.

I stopped walking. My whole body went stiff. I turned around to face him.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“You heard me.” Kaelen’s jaw was hard. His eyes looked darker than usual. “What you did out there. Exposing Valerium’s weaknesses in front of the entire court. Humiliating a king. It was reckless and dangerous.”

My heart started beating faster. Anger rose up inside me, hot and quick.

“I was protecting you,” I said.

“I didn’t ask you to.” His voice cut through the air like a knife. “I didn’t ask you to nearly start a war over me. I didn’t ask you to use intelligence you had been sitting on to publicly destroy a diplomatic negotiation. And I sure as hell didn’t ask you to go for a morning ride that got me dragged to an execution block.”

The words hit me like stones. Each one hurt.

“You’re angry that I saved your life?” I could hear my voice getting louder. My face felt hot.

“Saved my life or endangered me?” Kaelen’s control was breaking now. I could hear the frustration bleeding through his voice. “This morning you disappeared without telling anyone. Do you have any idea what that was like? Being questioned about where you were while they held a blade to my throat? Being accused of murdering you when I didn’t even know you had left?”

“I didn’t think–”

“Exactly.” He cut me off. “You didn’t think.” He gestured back toward the courtyard, his hand moving sharply through the air. “You never think, Elara. You just act.”

My own anger was rising now, matching his. It filled my chest, my throat, my head.

“He nearly had you executed,” I said. My voice was shaking, but this time not from fear. From rage. “He questioned my authority in my own palace. He–”

“He did what any king would do when a queen disappears during a state visit.” Kaelen’s tone was different now. Brutal. Honest in a way that cut deep. “You put him in an impossible position. Of course he suspected me. Of course he took control of the situation. You vanished, Elara. Without a word. Without a plan. And when you came back, instead of making things better, you turned it into a public confrontation.”

We had reached my chambers now. The heavy wooden door stood there, closed. The corridor around us was empty. No guards. No servants. No one.

But Kaelen did not seem to care who might hear. His voice was not getting quieter.

“I stood up for myself,” I said. My voice was shaking so hard now. “I refused to be controlled–”

“By making yourself uncontrollable.” Kaelen interrupted me again. “There’s a difference between being strong and being chaotic. What you did out there wasn’t strength. It was…”

He stopped. But I could see the word in his eyes. The word he was holding back.

“Say it,” I demanded. My hands curled into fists at my sides. “You think I’m unstable. Just like Malakor. Just like the council. Just say it.”

“I think you’re not yourself.” Kaelen’s voice got a little softer, but somehow that made it worse. The concern in his voice sounded like he was talking to a child. “The mood swings. The recklessness. The way you can’t seem to control your reactions anymore. Something is wrong, Elara. And instead of getting help, you’re making it worse.”

“I don’t need help.” My voice came out cold. Hard. “I need people to stop trying to control me.”

“I’m not trying to control you!” His frustration exploded like thunder. “I’m trying to keep you alive! I’m trying to keep you from destroying everything the past royals built because you can’t think past your immediate anger or hurt or whatever it is you’re feeling in any given moment!”

“So now my feelings are the problem?”

“Your inability to manage them is the problem.” His words were harsh. Cutting. Each one felt like a slap. “You feel angry, so you create weapons to threaten kings. You feel trapped, so you disappear without telling anyone. You feel insulted, so you start diplomatic incidents. When does it end, Elara? When does it stop? When your council has enough ammunition to question your fitness to rule?”

My hand moved to the door handle. My fingers wrapped around the cold metal.

“Get away from me,” I said.

“No.”

Kaelen caught my hand before I could reach the door. His fingers wrapped around mine, firm, unyielding. His green eyes locked onto me like he was trying to force the truth straight into my bones.

“Not until you hear this,” he said, his voice low but shaking at the edges. “I nearly died today because of your choices. And instead of acknowledging that, instead of taking responsibility, you’re angry at me for pointing it out.”

The words didn’t just hang between us.

They pressed in.

Heavy. Brutal. Unavoidable.

My pulse roared in my ears. I tried to pull my hand back, but he held on. Not tight enough to hurt, just enough to stop me from running.

“Is that really what you think of me?” My voice came out smaller than I intended. I hated that he could hear it.

“Right now?” His jaw tightened. He didn’t look away. He didn’t soften.

“Yes. I think you’re making terrible decisions and calling it strength. I think you’re being reckless and calling it independence. And I think if you don’t stop–”

His fingers tightened.

“–you’re going to destroy everything. Including yourself.”

Something inside me snapped.

“Let go of me.”

He hesitated. That hesitation burned more than if he had refused.

I tore my hand out of his grip. The sudden freedom stung. My skin felt raw where his fingers had been, like he’d branded me with the truth.

I turned to the door and gripped the handle so hard the metal bit into my palm.

“Then maybe you should stop caring.” My voice turned cold. Distant. Like ice. “Clearly I’m such a burden to you.”

It was a low blow. I knew it was. I wanted it to be.

And it landed exactly as I intended. Kaelen’s expression hardened. His jaw tightened.

“Maybe it would be easier,” he said quietly. “At least then I’d know what I was dealing with. At least then I wouldn’t have to watch you self-destruct and pretend everything is fine.”

I opened the door to my chambers. The hinges creaked softly in the silence.

“You’re fired, Kaelen.”

I said the words without thinking twice.

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