Chapter 54

Before dawn, Gideon dons hated Valiant Guard armor, coordinating with Captain Keeley to infiltrate the palace. Their objective is to neutralize two incoming Valiant, replace the guards at a hidden tunnel, then free the pregnant female guvre and extract Fate’s creature without alerting the garrison.

Trading barbs to steady nerves, Gideon and Keeley move to the intercept point. Keeley’s loyal subordinates, Min and Andrea, see her off with deference. When two Valiant crest the hill, Gideon silently kills both with crossbow shots, and they proceed in disguise.

At the tunnel, Gideon’s insider knock opens the passage, revealing two posted guards—Rordon and Luther—too drunk to question a relief rotation. After they flee, Gideon and Keeley advance by torchlight through disused corridors, debating complacency, sexism in the Guard, and how to spur people to care.

As they navigate, Keeley divulges her past: a guardian fabricated letters from a “kingly” father to keep her compliant, punished her by cutting her hair, and kept her isolated. Keeley later escaped to Massacre Manor, worked clerical tasks, and only joined the Malevolent Guard at seventeen. Gideon resolves to trace the letters after the mission.

A piercing screech shatters their pace—the guvre is in distress. Gideon and Keeley sprint toward the sound, fearing the cries signal labor, which would make extraction far more dangerous and time-critical.