CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 80 – THE BROKEN MASK

Steel rang like thunder in the Queen’s chamber.

The tapestries had already been shredded by errant swings, velvet chairs overturned and splintered beneath the weight of combat. Shadows writhed on silk-hung walls as the chandelier swayed wildly overhead, shedding drops of molten wax like falling sparks. The air smelled of blood, sweat, and scorched fabric.

Kai’s dagger scraped along the serrated edge of the intruder’s sword, the vibration jarring up his arm until his shoulder ached. Sparks burst between their blades as the man’s jagged teeth of steel sought to tear his weapon from his grip.

"Still fighting like a rat with knives, Kai?" the intruder sneered, voice dripping venom. "All quick stabs and dirty tricks. Did you forget who taught you those moves?"

Kai’s teeth clenched. He shoved back hard, disengaging, and his breathing came ragged. "You’re not him. He’s dead."

The intruder lunged, wild and vicious. Velis met the charge, sword raised in a precise parry that forced steel into steel. His gauntleted hand trembled as the serrated blade chewed into his guard. "Stay behind me!" he barked, straining against the intruder’s brute strength.

But Astra was already moving, skirts whispering as she slipped into the fray with a smile that looked too sharp for the chaos around them. "Behind you, darling?" she purred at Velis, slashing her thin rapier toward the intruder’s exposed side. "Not my style."

The intruder twisted at the last instant. Astra’s blade grazed his ribs, drawing a thin line of red — but his grin widened as though he welcomed the sting. "Ah, the charmer. Always dancing around death like it’s a suitor. Careful. One wrong step, and I’ll make you bow."

Astra’s eyes glittered. "Men have tried. They bled for it, too."

Lyra darted in next, her movements fast but fueled by fury more than finesse. Her blade struck with reckless abandon, each swing carrying too much weight. "You—" clang! "—don’t—" clang! "—belong here!"

The intruder caught her blade on his own, twisting it out wide, then pressed close enough to whisper against her ear. "Neither do you. You’re just another weapon in his hand, little bird. Do you even know what he did before you loved him?"

Lyra’s breath caught, her swing faltering for half a heartbeat. And that was enough — the intruder’s pommel slammed into her stomach, sending her sprawling across the marble floor with a strangled gasp.

"Lyra!" Kai’s roar filled the chamber.

He closed the distance in an instant, driving his dagger toward the man’s throat. But the intruder caught his wrist mid-strike. Their eyes locked, the weight of years — betrayal, blood, memory — hanging between them like another blade.

"You never asked why I came back," the intruder hissed. "Maybe because you already know."

Kai forced the dagger down, muscles screaming as the man resisted. "You were nothing. Just a shadow in the dirt."

"Wrong." His smile turned savage, teeth glinting in the candlelight. "I was the one who carried you when you bled out on the field. I was the one who made sure you rose again. And she—" his gaze flicked to the Queen, who was still lounging with wine glass in hand, watching like a goddess of cruelty— "she promised us both glory. You weren’t supposed to take it all."

The Queen’s laughter broke like glass. "Oh, boys. Still quarreling over my scraps?" She tilted her head, her jeweled crown catching the light. "It’s sweet, really. Almost nostalgic."

Velis staggered back into position, armor cracked, but sword still steady. His glare cut through the Queen’s amusement. "What is he to you?"

She swirled her wine lazily. "Once? A knight. A brother. A pawn. Now?" Her lips curved in a smile sharp as a dagger. "Now he’s simply entertainment."

The intruder barked a bitter laugh. "Listen to her. Still stringing you along like dogs on leashes. You’ll learn the truth too late."

He shoved Kai back, breaking the deadlock, and the fight erupted again.

Velis’ blade met his, Astra’s rapier flickered in the gaps, Kai pressed hard with his twin daggers, and Lyra — clutching her stomach but refusing to stay down — staggered back to her feet with a glare that burned brighter than pain.

Steel clashed, sparks flew. Blood streaked the marble.

The chamber itself seemed to pulse with the rhythm of violence. Mirrors cracked, reflecting fractured images of their struggle: Kai’s grim face, Astra’s cruel smile, Velis’ steady fury, Lyra’s tear-bright rage — and always, always, the intruder’s grin, wide and knowing.

Then, as Kai’s dagger finally sank deep into the man’s shoulder, the grin didn’t fade. It widened.

"You think this ends with me bleeding on your floor?" His voice rose over the clash of steel, wild and exultant. "No. This is only the beginning. She never told you what you really are."

The Queen set her glass aside, rising slowly from her throne. Her shadow stretched long across the chamber, swallowing the fight in its path.

"Enough games," she purred, her voice carrying more weight than steel. "Shall I show them, Kai? Shall I peel off your mask for them?"

Kai froze for half a second — and that hesitation was enough. The intruder wrenched his blade free, slashing across the marble in a shower of sparks.

The Queen’s eyes burned with cruel delight. "Yes," she whispered. "It’s time they saw."

And with a gesture of her jeweled hand, the chamber’s mirrors began to shimmer — not with reflections, but with fragments of memory.

The glass did not simply shimmer — it bled.

Colors warped and twisted across their surfaces, spilling out as if the mirrors were windows to some other battlefield. Kai’s heart stopped when he recognized the scene. A hilltop of corpses. The stench of burning armor. The sound of a boy — his own voice, younger, raw with terror — crying out in desperation.

Velis staggered back a step, his sword lowering. "That’s... that’s the Night of Crows. That battle was erased from the record."

The Queen’s laughter echoed like bells. "Erased for most. Not for him."

Another mirror shuddered, then burst into an image of Kai plunging his daggers into a man’s throat. The victim’s face twisted with shock, not rage — an ally, not an enemy. Lyra clutched her chest as if the blade had pierced her instead. "Kai... you killed your own—"

Kai’s voice cracked. "I didn’t have a choice!"

But the mirrors didn’t stop. Another flared to life: Astra, shackled, in a cage of silver, while Kai bargained with cloaked figures for her freedom. Astra’s lips parted, her confident mask flickering. "You... you paid them with blood, didn’t you? That’s why they let me live."

The last mirror rippled with a scene none of them could speak of at first — Kai kneeling before the Queen, head bowed, her jeweled hand resting on his hair like a master with her hound.

The Queen’s voice purred, filling the silence. "And there it is. The truth none of you wanted. Your beloved Kai was mine first — and in his heart, he always will be."

The chamber seemed to breathe with the weight of her revelation. The mirrors buzzed with the echoes of past sins, and each woman’s eyes burned with betrayal, confusion, and hurt.

Kai’s chest heaved as he took a step forward, fists trembling. "Don’t listen to her—"

But the words died as the intruder’s laughter split the chamber.

Kai’s memory. Battles, betrayals, blood. Faces his harem had never seen. Choices he thought buried.

Astra’s mocking smile faltered. Velis’ knuckles tightened on his sword. Lyra stared wide-eyed at the visions.

"Kai..." she whispered. "What... what is this?"

Kai’s stomach turned cold. His past was no longer his own. The Queen had cracked it open for them all to see.

The fight hadn’t ended. It had only shifted — from steel to truth.

Next Chapter Preview – "Shattered Loyalties"

The mirrors refuse to fade. Each new vision gnaws deeper at the fragile trust between Kai and the women who fight beside him. Velis’ silence becomes a blade of its own, Astra’s charm twists into venom, and Lyra’s tears cut sharper than steel.

But the intruder doesn’t stop swinging, and neither does the Queen. Their true aim is not just to wound Kai’s body, but to rip apart his harem from within. With every strike, the battle tilts closer to betrayal — and Kai must decide if revealing his own truth is the only way to save them.

When the next blade falls, it won’t be against the intruder. It may be against him.

Call to Action:

The Queen has shattered the illusions that bound them together. Loyalties are breaking, and Kai’s greatest fight may not be against the enemy before him, but the women at his side.

⚔️ Step into Chapter 81: Shattered Loyalties — and see who still stands with Kai when the mirrors fall.