Chapter 22: The Question You Can’t Ignore

Mira didn’t hesitate once she started talking.
At first, her voice was careful, like she wasn’t sure how much she should say, but as the words came, they steadied, then flowed, carrying something heavier beneath them—something real.
“Riven grew up in the orphanage,” she said, her fingers curled tightly in her lap. “He left when he was old enough, but he didn’t just disappear like most people do. He comes back. Every month.”
Kael didn’t interrupt.
She just listened.

“He rents a small room near the Tower,” Mira continued. “I don’t know exactly where, but he always comes from that direction. And every time he visits, he brings money. Not random amounts… fixed. The same every month. Like he planned it.”
Aerin leaned forward slightly, listening just as intently now.
“He talks to everyone,” Mira said, a faint trace of something softer passing through her expression. “Even the younger ones. He doesn’t treat us like we’re… less. He just… stays for a while. Makes sure everything is fine.”
Her voice lowered.
“He said he would keep coming.”

Kael’s gaze shifted slightly, her thoughts already moving ahead of the words.
A routine.
A pattern.
Something consistent.

Broken.

“He hasn’t come for two weeks,” Mira said quietly.

That confirmed it.

Kael exhaled slowly, leaning back just slightly, her expression tightening in a way that was easy to miss but impossible to ignore once noticed.
At least now—
There was no uncertainty left.

Riven wasn’t just missing from the market.
He hadn’t returned anywhere.

“Why only you?” Kael asked after a moment, her tone calm again, controlled. “What about the others?”
Mira looked up at her, her brows pulling together slightly.
“They’re worried,” she said. “But they think he’ll come back. They say he’s strong, that he’s been climbing for a long time, that he knows what he’s doing.”
She shook her head.
“They’re not worried enough to do anything.”

Her voice tightened.
“But I am.”

Silence followed.

“I feel like something’s wrong,” she continued, quieter now. “He’s never missed this long before. Not without saying something.”

Kael’s gaze sharpened.

That matched.
Too well.

“I want to go and find him,” Mira added, her voice steady again despite the tremor underneath it.

Kael let out a short breath.
A scoff.

“You think you can save him,” she said, her tone cutting through the moment cleanly, “being this careless?”

Mira flinched slightly.

Kael leaned forward just enough for her words to carry weight.
“You couldn’t even protect yourself five minutes ago,” she continued. “And you think you’ll walk into the Tower and save someone who’s been climbing it for years?”

Mira didn’t respond.
Not immediately.

Before she could—
Aerin spoke.

“I don’t know much about Riven,” he said, glancing between them, “but I know she does.”

Kael’s eyes snapped toward him.

“She’s been asking about him,” Aerin added, his tone more certain now. “At the market. At the guild.”

Kael’s expression hardened instantly.

“You have a loose tongue,” she said sharply.

Aerin flinched, the words hitting harder than expected.

But Mira—
Mira’s expression changed completely.

Hope.

She turned toward Kael immediately.
“Is it true?” she asked, her voice quick, urgent. “Are you going into the Tower?”

Kael didn’t answer.

“Please,” Mira continued, shifting closer slightly, her composure cracking again under the weight of it. “Take me with you. I can’t trust other teams. I know what they do. I saw it today. I—”
Her voice wavered, but she pushed through it.
“Please. Let me come with you.”

Kael’s expression didn’t soften.

“I’m not entering the Tower,” she said.

The words came out automatically.
Reflex.

But they didn’t carry the same certainty they had before.

Mira noticed.

“Are you not worried about him?” she asked, her voice quieter now, but sharper in a different way.

Kael didn’t respond.

“Don’t you want to find him?” Mira pressed. “If he hasn’t come back for two weeks… something could have happened. He could be in danger.”

That—
That landed.

Clean.
Direct.

Kael’s fingers tightened briefly against the edge of the table.

Danger.

Missing.

Inside the Tower.

She stood up.

No response.
No argument.

She simply reached for her payment, placed it on the table for her share, and turned toward the exit.

Aerin watched her go, caught between following and staying.
Mira didn’t move.

Kael didn’t look back.

The street outside felt colder.
Quieter.

The shard in her pocket pulsed faintly.

She didn’t acknowledge it.

Didn’t slow down.

Didn’t stop.

Behind her, Aerin finished paying, glancing once at Mira before nodding slightly.
“Come on,” he said.

But Kael was already gone.

The next day came like any other.

Routine.
Structure.
Control.

Kael stood behind her stall, arranging her goods with the same steady movements, her expression neutral, her focus sharp.
To anyone watching—
Nothing had changed.

Dain and Lera arrived together.

Dain leaned casually against the stall, a faint smirk already forming.
“You’re collecting people now?” he said.

Kael didn’t look up.
“No.”

Lera smiled lightly, her eyes flicking toward the space nearby where Aerin had been lingering the previous day.
“Could’ve fooled us,” she said. “First one, now two?”

Kael set a bundle down with a little more force than necessary.
“I didn’t ask for either,” she replied.

Dain chuckled. “Doesn’t look like they’re waiting for permission.”

Kael rolled her eyes.

But she didn’t deny it.

And that—
That said enough.

End of Chapter 22