Chapter 187: Has Your Trap Produced Results?

"What do you suggest we do?" Cedric asked carefully.

Aldrich was silent for a long moment, his ancient eyes fixed on the fire.

"Nothing," he said finally. "We cannot prevent what we do not yet understand. We wait. We observe. We see what transpires when Carrick meets with the kings."

"And if something does go wrong? If the meeting becomes a crisis that threatens the stability of the court?"

"Then we respond accordingly," Aldrich said. "But until it happens, we cannot act. To act before understanding the true shape of the problem is to risk making matters worse rather than better."

He leaned forward in his chair.

"We know the Selection is ended," Aldrich continued, counting on his fingers as if listing the pieces of a puzzle he was assembling. "We know the council will be angry. We know the girl is more important than we initially understood. We know the investigator is returning with findings. We know Carrick is arriving. We know there will be conflict."

"But we do not know what Greaves has discovered," Cedric said, understanding now where Aldrich’s logic was leading. "And we do not know what the kings truly intend."

"Exactly," Aldrich confirmed. "Until we have that information, we wait."

Cedric understood what needed to be done in the immediate term, regardless of larger mysteries.

"The council will convene tomorrow," he said. "I must present them with news of the Selection’s ending."

"They will be shocked," Aldrich said. "They will demand explanations."

"I will frame it as a strategic decision," Cedric replied. "The noble daughters have not produced the results the kings desired. The kings have determined that pursuing a different approach is more advantageous."

"Give them something to work with," Aldrich suggested. "Keep them focused on practical matters rather than on deeper questions."

"The noble houses will need to be contacted," Cedric continued. "There will be negotiations, compensations, explanations to manage their anger."

"Let the council manage that," Aldrich said. "Keep them busy. Keep their minds on the politics they understand....the anger of families, the negotiations over compensation, the practical work of ending the Selection without causing open conflict."

He settled back in his chair.

"If the council is occupied with managing the noble houses, they will have less time to investigate the girl or to wonder about the kings’ true intentions."

Cedric lowered his voice, though they were alone in Aldrich’s study, with no one to overhear.

"And the mole within the council?" he asked. "Has your trap produced results?"

"Not yet," Cedric replied. "But it will. The announcement tomorrow will provide the final test."

He pulled out a small notebook, its pages filled with his careful handwriting.

"I provided different versions of information to each council member," he explained. "The selection of certain details varied, the exact timing of the ending, the specific reasoning, the potential compensation being offered to the noble houses. In the coming weeks, when these different versions begin circulating among the noble houses, we will know who leaked what information and to whom."

Aldrich nodded slowly, approving the strategy.

"Then we will identify the traitor," the old elder said.

"Yes," Cedric confirmed. "And then we will know whether to remove them quietly or to use them as a source of misinformation."

The understanding between them was clear: whoever the mole was, they would be dealt with. The only question was the method.

***

The fire had burned down, the flames lower now, casting longer shadows across the study.

Cedric rose to leave, understanding that the evening had grown late and that tomorrow would bring its own demands.

Aldrich walked him to the door, moving slowly but with purpose.

"These are dangerous times," the old elder said as they reached the threshold.

"They are," Cedric agreed. "The kings are moving toward something we do not fully understand. The curse is pressing harder. The girl is at the center of it all."

"And we must navigate carefully," Aldrich said. "Between the council and the kings. Between the noble houses and the throne. Between what we investigate and what we protect."

"It is what we have always done," Cedric observed.

"Yes," Aldrich said. "But this time, I fear the stakes are higher than they have ever been."

The old man gripped Cedric’s shoulder, his ancient hand carrying surprising strength.

"The girl," Aldrich said quietly. "Watch her. Learn what you can about her without drawing the kings’ attention. Because when Greaves returns with his findings, everything will become clear. And we must be prepared for what clarity brings."

Cedric bowed slightly to the old elder.

"I will," he promised.

He stepped out into the night, his carriage waiting, the palace visible in the distance, its torches burning against the darkness.

Behind him, Aldrich stood in the doorway, watching him go, his ancient eyes seeing further than most men could see, understanding the shape of the crisis that was unfolding, preparing himself and Cedric for the moment when prophecy and present collided.

***

*KAELEN*

The training grounds lay at the far edge of the palace, removed from the main structures, hidden from casual observation by high stone walls and dense pine forest. Kaelen had not been there in weeks.

Not since GLACIUS had become... difficult.

The dragon beneath his skin stirred constantly now, a low hum of restlessness that never fully quieted. Three weeks of captivity in human form, three weeks of watching Morgana move through the palace, three weeks of restraint while the Selection continued and the he and his brothers maintained their careful distance....GLACIUS was beginning to rebel.

So Kaelen had gone to the training grounds, weapons in hand, hoping that physical exhaustion might quiet the dragon’s hunger.

It had not worked.

He had sparred for hours. His muscles ached. Sweat covered his body. His pale eyes burned with the effort of keeping GLACIUS contained. But underneath it all, the hunger remained, not the simple hunger of the beast, but something more complicated, more dangerous, more essentially Kaelen than the dragon itself.