Chapter 9

Under curfew and before dawn, Brynn slips beneath the shiels and swims to the underside of the Main bridge, inching across slick beams to reach the brig undetected. Exhausted but driven by fear and curiosity, she peers through the stones and finds the Kenta prisoner awake, alert, and intent on her.

Acker taunts Brynn about their earlier clashes, then pivots to why he wanted to see her. He admits he can’t reveal everything, saying he doesn’t trust her yet and is bound by assurances. Through veiled answers, he confirms his name and suggests the limits come from a blood oath—made with ancient Kenta soil—restricting what he can say, though the bond is weakening as Brynn pieces truths together.

Probing Brynn’s ties, Acker asks whether she loves Kai. Brynn calls Kai her closest friend, and Acker derides the tepid confession. He contrasts it with a tender memory of his own match, revealing a more human side before attacking Alaha covenants as control. The sparring sharpens when he questions Brynn’s assumptions about her parents’ deaths and identity.

Acker implies Brynn is not Alaha and that she is in danger, refusing to name the threat because of the oath. The suggestion collides with Brynn’s earliest memory—being taken in by Kai’s family after her parents vanished at sea—and triggers panic. Ending the conversation, she rejects his riddles and leaves.

On the long, perilous return along the bridge beams, Brynn replays the encounter. Recalling Messer’s admonitions, she examines her dagger, then, in a decisive gesture that mirrors her inner upheaval, drops Messer’s blade into the dark sea.