Location: Tavara – Damien's Private Bunker, 3:14 AM
The underground bunker, hidden beneath the Kane estate's ruins, came alive with screens, secure channels, and encrypted feeds. Damien paced the concrete floor, brows drawn tight. Nora leaned against the steel table, arms crossed, watching him process the weight of the assassin's final words.
"A child that wasn't supposed to survive?" she murmured, breaking the silence. "What if he was referring to someone from your bloodline?"
Damien turned sharply. "No child of mine was left behind. I would've known."
But even as he said it, the seed of doubt cracked open. The Kane family had kept many secrets—deadly, bloody ones. His father had once hidden an entire weapons vault beneath a monastery. What else had they buried?
Ava entered with a tablet. "I pulled DNA samples from the attackers. The leader—he had Kane markers. Distant, but real. Whoever trained him knew your family's tactics."
Damien stiffened. "So the enemy's not just some rival faction... they're blood?"
"Possibly a bastard branch," Ava replied. "There are whispers—old ones—about your grandfather's illegitimate children. Ones born in exile."
Nora's fingers clenched around her arms. "That would make them... your cousins. Or worse. Half-siblings."
A silence hung heavy in the air.
Damien spoke slowly, voice low. "If they survived in the shadows, trained in hatred, they'd see me not as family—but as the usurper."
Ava tapped the tablet. "Satellite footage shows movement near the ruins of the old Kane ancestral lands—specifically in the Dead Ravines. A place long abandoned. I believe someone has been operating out of there for months. Maybe years."
Nora moved toward Damien. "If there's someone with your blood, living in exile, raising a militia—they're planning something big."
"We need to get ahead of it," Damien said, his mind racing. "If they believe I stole a legacy that should've been theirs, then we're dealing with someone fueled by revenge and history. A deadly mix."
"Should we alert the council?" Ava asked.
"No," Damien said firmly. "Not yet. I don't want a panic. This isn't just about the throne—it's personal. They'll come for me, for Nora... maybe even for our child."
Nora's eyes darkened. "Then let's meet them first. Before the shadows get too deep."
Damien nodded. "We go to the Ravines. At dawn. No guards, no army. Just us."
Ava hesitated. "That's suicide."
"No," Damien replied, voice sharp. "That's legacy. And it's time I faced mine fully."