Chapter 49 – Blades in the Mind
The night fell like velvet over Gildcrest. Silent. Still. Too still.
Jean stood on the high balcony of the fortress keep, her senses wide open. Whitney paced beside her, hackles raised. The torches below flickered unnaturally. Something was wrong.
Then she felt it.
A sliver of cold—not on her skin, but behind her thoughts. Like a whisper brushing the edge of her mind.
"Mental intrusion," she hissed. "A Guild assassin's already inside."
Whitney growled. "I smell blood. West wing."
Jean didn't wait. She vaulted the balcony, aura flaring midair, and dashed toward Silvia's quarters, Luxclade humming in her grip.
Inside, she found the guards unconscious—no blood, no wounds. Asleep.
Silvia stood in the center of the chamber, unmoving.
A figure cloaked in shadow sat in the room's far corner. Legs crossed. Hands resting on knees. Eyes glowing blue beneath a black hood.
"I am the Whisper," the figure said softly. "The Guild's mental blade. I don't kill with steel. I plant seeds. Doubt. Pain. Despair."
Jean raised her sword. "Get out of her head."
The Whisper tilted their head. "Too late. She's reliving the night your parents died. Over. And over. And over."
Silvia's breath hitched. Her eyes stared through walls. Her hand trembled toward her sword but couldn't close around it.
Jean stepped forward. "You want into someone's mind?"
She closed her eyes—and let the Light in.
A pulse of divine energy erupted from her aura, not to kill, but to purge.
The Whisper screamed, clutching their head as the light reached into the shadows of Silvia's mind—and burned them away.
Whitney lunged. The Whisper rolled back and vanished into a crack of darkness—but not before hissing, "The Guild is in your blood now, Jean. We don't need to kill. Just twist."
Jean rushed to Silvia's side. "Sil—!"
Silvia gasped, falling to her knees, tears streaking down her face.
"I… I saw them," she whispered. "Every scream. Every flame. I was too slow."
Jean caught her. "You didn't fail. You survived. That's how we keep fighting."
Silvia's fingers dug into her sister's cloak.
And Jean knew: the Guild had lost this round.
But they wouldn't stop.
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