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“Four children dead,” Hakan said conversationally, as if discussing the weather. “Four more beyond saving. All to curry favor with my father behind my back.”

He twisted the shadow-spear, wringing another scream from Azad. "Did you really think he wouldn't tell me? That Erlik would accept such betrayal without informing his heir?"

Shock rippled through the room.

I stared at Hakan, trying to process his words. "Your father knew about the children?"

Hakan's jaw tightened. "My father knew Azad was plotting against me. He didn't share the... specifics." His tone turned deadly. "I had to discover those myself."

Another twist of the spear. More screams.

"You were never subtle, Azad," Hakan continued, his words calm.

"All those questions about the ancient prophecies, your sudden interest in forgotten rituals.

My father warned me you were planning something.

But this..." He gestured toward where the children huddled.

"This exceeded even my expectations of your depravity. "

Azad's eyes widened. "He promised me?—"

"He lied," Hakan cut him off. "He wanted to see how far you'd go. How useful you might be." A vicious smile touched his lips. "Congratulations. You've proven utterly expendable."

My stomach dropped. Despite everything, despite his moment of gentleness with the girl, he was still planning to use them.

Hakan turned to me, his expression amused.

“Did you expect redemption, Ada? Some dramatic change of heart because you exposed this little…indiscretion? These children have been infused with shadow essence,” he carried on talking before I could respond.

“That cannot be undone. They will either learn to control it, or it will consume them entirely.”

He held my gaze, and for a moment I glimpsed something beneath his coldness—not warmth, but a bitter understanding.

“The world isn’t divided into simple light and shadow, no matter what your father taught you.”

The truth of his words stung because I could see the logic in them, even as everything in me rebelled against it.

“Yes,” he agreed easily when I remained silent. “And you, my brave, foolish wife, would do well to remember that.”

With a gesture, shadows wrapped around Azad, lifting him from the floor.

“I’ll deal with my cousin personally. Lady Narin oversees the children’s treatment. The rest of you are dismissed.”

As the shadow lords filed out, Hakan’s voice cut through the air with deadly precision.

“Lord Kenan, find Captain Vural. I want to know exactly how my security protocols were circumvented.” His gaze swept the room.

“And review all access permissions granted in my name over the past six months. Someone will answer for this breach.”

Several lords exchanged nervous glances. If Hakan was conducting a security purge, no one was safe from scrutiny.

Hakan paused beside me. “Your heroics have earned you nothing but my attention, Ada. Was it worth it?”

“Every child saved is worth it,” I replied, refusing to show fear despite the ice in his gaze.

“How noble.” His tone dripped with contempt. “Return to your chambers. We’ll discuss your trespassing later.”

“Punishment?” I laughed bitterly. “For saving children?”

“For disobedience,” he corrected. “For wandering where you don’t belong. For involving yourself in shadow business.”

I stepped closer, my anger matching his icy posture. “I won’t apologize for having a conscience.”

“A conscience,” he repeated, as if tasting a foreign concept. “Is that what drives you to repeatedly defy me? To risk everything for strangers?”

“Someone has to stand against the darkness.”

His smile was blade-sharp. “And you think that’s you? The broken light-bearer who couldn’t even save herself?”

The words struck exactly where they would hurt most, reopening wounds from the dungeon night when he'd witnessed my madness, my despair.

“I saved those children.” I clung to that truth. “Whether you acknowledge it or not.”

“You exposed a plot against me,” he countered.

His eyes held mine, searching for something.

“For that, I’ll overlook your trespassing.

This time.” His shadows pricked my skin, cold as grave dirt.

Then he leaned closer, his breath grazing my ear.

“You play a dangerous game, Ada. One you don’t fully understand. ”

I stiffened. What game? What was he implying?

“But make no mistake—your bleeding heart will get you killed in this court. Perhaps you should worry less about saving others and more about saving yourself.”

He turned and left, dragging his cousin’s limp form into the shadows. Guards materialized to escort me back to my chambers, where Melo waited anxiously.

I told her everything—the laboratory, the children, Hakan’s icy response.

“He’s going to continue using them, isn’t he?” Melo asked grimly.

“Yes.” The single word tasted like ash. “Different master, same purpose.”

Melo paced agitatedly. “And Azad?”

“Will surely wish for death before Hakan is finished with him,” I remembered the casual cruelty with which Hakan had tortured his cousin. “But not out of mercy for the children. Only because Azad tried to undermine him.”

I moved to the window, looking out at the deceptively peaceful gardens. “I thought…for one moment, when he ordered healers for the children… I thought perhaps…”

“That there was something human in him after all?” Melo finished softly.

“Maybe not human,” I said slowly. “But something…different. Something I recognized from before.” I turned to face her, determination rising through my exhaustion. “It doesn’t change anything. We still need to escape. We still need to get to Kiraz.”

“And now we know the Shadow Court has deeper fractures than we realized,” Melo observed. “Azad’s betrayal, these factions forming around Hakan…we might be able to use that.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “If we’re careful.” I touched the window glass and traced a protective rune with my fingertip. “And I need to contact Tolga again. If Azad was researching ancient prophecies, I need to know which ones. There might be something there about the light and shadow bloodlines.”

“You think this connects to Kiraz somehow?” Melo asked, alarmed.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But Azad wanted vessels of innocence to please Erlik. Children with shadow essence integration. The specificity of that requirement…” I trailed off, not voicing my fears about what that might mean for any child with both light and shadow heritage.

“We’ll figure it out,” Melo promised, and squeezed my hand. “We always do. What now?”

I turned from the window, resolve hardening within me. “Now we keep searching for a way out. And we remember exactly who and what we’re dealing with.”

“And what about the children?” she asked softly.

“I’ll find a way to help them, too,” I promised. “The same magic that protects…” I caught myself. “The same protective magic I’ve studied might offer some solution. If shadow essence can be infused, perhaps it can also be contained or redirected.”

The afternoon sun was setting by the time I finally allowed myself to rest, my mind replaying that moment in the laboratory—Hakan kneeling before the shadow-corrupted girl, something almost like tenderness in his voice when he spoke her name.

For five years, I’d held on to my hatred like a shield, convincing myself the man I loved was gone forever.

That certainty had protected me, had given me the strength to keep my child hidden and safe.

But what if I was wrong? What if fragments of the real Hakan remained, buried beneath layers of shadow and ambition? The possibility terrified me more than his darkness ever could. Hope was a luxury I couldn’t afford—not with my daughter’s safety at stake.

Yet as darkness fell outside my window, listening to the whisper of shadows beyond the glass, I couldn’t shake the image of his hand hovering protectively over that child. Couldn’t forget the way his voice had gentled when he’d spoken her name.

Perhaps the man I had loved wasn’t entirely gone. Perhaps somewhere beneath the monster he had become, a sliver of his humanity remained.

And perhaps that small hope would be the most dangerous thing of all.