---
Years ago.
The Capital.
The execution yard behind the Iron Citadel was silent.
No crowds. No mercy.
Only the sound of chains clinking against broken stone.
And the boy kneeling in the center — face bloodied, arms bound, back marked with fresh lashes. A slave. A shadow-borne. A thing.
He had no name anymore.
Only a number: Subject 43.
---
The guards watched with boredom.
"This one tried to bite the overseer," one grunted.
"Should've broken his jaw too," said another.
They raised the whip again.
---
That's when she stepped into the yard.
A girl in white armor, gilded in silver and sapphire. Her hair was like winter sunlight, braided back tight.
She moved with precision. Confidence. Not cruelty.
But when she saw the boy — she stopped.
And her eyes changed.
---
"What is this?" she asked coldly.
The captain saluted. "Punishment, Commander. The subject disobeyed orders."
"He's a child."
"He's a shadowborn. Their age doesn't—"
> "I said, he's a child."
Her voice cracked like a sword unsheathing.
---
The captain hesitated.
"But Lady Lyra, the sentence was passed—"
She stepped forward.
Her boot met the whip mid-swing, blocking it with a burst of frost.
The metal froze solid in mid-air and snapped in two.
The courtyard fell silent.
> "Unchain him."
> "Now."
---
The guards looked at each other.
One moved forward reluctantly, unlocking the shackles.
The boy collapsed to the ground, coughing blood, barely able to move.
Still, he stared up at her.
Eyes wild.
He expected another blow.
He never expected kindness.
---
She knelt.
She didn't speak at first.
She just looked at him.
As if trying to remember a face she hadn't met yet.
Then, quietly:
> "What's your name?"
He didn't answer.
Didn't have one anymore.
---
She frowned.
"No name?"
A nod.
She reached out—and he flinched.
But all she did was brush the dirt off his cheek.
> "Then I'll give you one."
> "Kael."
---
He stared at her.
Confused.
Broken.
But something inside him moved.
A flicker of heat. A warmth he hadn't felt in years.
Like being human again.
---
"Why…" he croaked, voice hoarse, "Why are you helping me?"
She stood.
Looking down at him, not with pity… but belief.
> "Because you're not what they made you."
> "And one day, Kael, when you decide who you really are—"
> "The world won't be ready."
---
The guards grumbled. The captain bit his tongue.
But no one dared oppose her.
She was Lyra Ellenthall, daughter of the Frostborn Duke, commander of the Silverguard.
And in that moment, she made a silent vow.
---
> "If the world wants you to live in chains… I'll be the first to break them."
---
Kael would never forget that day.
He didn't cry then.
Didn't even thank her.
But as they walked away, blood trailing behind him, he whispered the name she gave him under his breath.
> "Kael."
> "I'll never forget you."
---
Now. Present time.
Lyra sat bolt upright in bed.
Tears streaked her cheeks.
But she wasn't sad.
She was awake.
And for the first time in years—
> She remembered.
---
End of Chapter 14
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