THE WITNESS
1176 Words
The Lunar Throne had spoken.
Again.
Not through prophecy.
Not through priests.
Not through ancient texts.
Directly.
To the entire kingdom.
THE TRUE HEIR PROTECTS LIFE.
The words echoed through Asterlyn long after the voice faded.
Silence consumed the city.
The crowd stood frozen.
The riots stopped.
The accusations stopped.
Even the fear seemed uncertain.
Because the Throne itself had defended Elaria.
And in the Dominion of Asterlyn—
The Throne was sacred.
⸻
Elaria stood in the center of the square.
Breathing hard.
Her hands still stained from helping the poisoned woman.
Around her, people stared.
Not with hatred.
Not with trust.
Confusion.
The most dangerous stage of all.
Because confused people could still be manipulated.
⸻
Then an old man stepped forward.
The crowd parted for him.
Slowly.
Respectfully.
Elaria noticed his age immediately.
Seventy.
Perhaps older.
His back was bent.
His clothes were simple.
Yet something about him felt familiar to the older nobles nearby.
Several council members visibly stiffened.
Lord Cassian most of all.
The councilman’s face drained of color.
⸻
The old man pointed toward the palace.
Toward Selene.
Then toward Elaria.
His voice trembled.
Not from fear.
From emotion.
“I know her.”
Silence fell.
The entire square listened.
The old man swallowed.
Tears appeared in his eyes.
“I know who she is.”
⸻
Selene stepped forward.
Her heart suddenly pounding.
“Who are you?”
The old man bowed.
Slowly.
Respectfully.
“My name is Aldric.”
The name struck several older nobles immediately.
Varis looked shocked.
Actually shocked.
“Elder Aldric?”
The crowd murmured.
Even Lucien frowned.
He had heard the name before.
Long ago.
From history lessons.
From palace records.
⸻
Varis looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“You’re alive?”
The old man smiled sadly.
“Barely.”
A strange tension settled across the square.
Because suddenly everyone understood.
This wasn’t an ordinary citizen.
This was someone important.
Someone connected to the past.
⸻
Aldric slowly turned toward Elaria.
Then he spoke words that changed everything.
“I was there nineteen years ago.”
The crowd froze.
Elaria’s heart stopped.
So did Selene’s.
So did Cassian’s.
Especially Cassian’s.
⸻
The old man continued.
“I served as Royal Archivist.”
Another wave of whispers.
The Royal Archivist.
Keeper of records.
Keeper of secrets.
Keeper of truth.
One of the few people who would have known exactly what happened during the attack.
⸻
Selene stepped forward.
Hope and fear warring inside her.
“You survived?”
Aldric nodded.
“Because they thought I was dead.”
His eyes darkened.
“They murdered everyone else.”
Silence followed.
Heavy silence.
Painful silence.
⸻
Then Aldric looked directly at Lord Cassian.
The reaction was immediate.
Cassian visibly tensed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Elaria noticed.
So did Selene.
So did Varis.
⸻
Aldric’s voice became cold.
Dangerously cold.
“I remember the fire.”
His gaze never left Cassian.
“I remember the attack.”
Still staring.
“I remember the screams.”
Still staring.
“And I remember the man who opened the gates.”
The square erupted.
Thousands of people gasped simultaneously.
The accusation hung in the air.
Deadly.
Explosive.
Unavoidable.
⸻
Cassian immediately stepped forward.
“Enough.”
His voice was sharp.
Too sharp.
The crowd noticed.
Aldric noticed.
Elaria definitely noticed.
⸻
The old archivist smiled.
A sad smile.
A knowing smile.
“The guilty always interrupt.”
The crowd reacted instantly.
Whispers spread everywhere.
Cassian’s face hardened.
For the first time since Elaria met him—
His calm mask cracked.
⸻
“You are an old man chasing ghosts.”
Cassian’s voice sounded controlled.
But barely.
Aldric laughed.
A small laugh.
Then he reached inside his cloak.
Guards immediately moved.
Weapons drawn.
The crowd tensed.
Selene stepped forward.
“What is that?”
⸻
Slowly…
Carefully…
Aldric revealed a small object.
A journal.
Old.
Burned.
Damaged.
But intact.
The old man’s hands trembled as he held it up.
“The Royal Record.”
Varis gasped.
Selene’s eyes widened.
Even Lucien looked stunned.
Because everyone knew what that meant.
The Royal Record documented everything.
Births.
Deaths.
Successions.
Royal orders.
Secrets.
Nothing was omitted.
⸻
“The original record survived.”
Aldric’s voice echoed across the square.
“The Birth Records were stolen.”
He nodded.
“But this wasn’t.”
The crowd exploded into whispers.
Hope appeared in Elaria’s chest.
For the first time.
Real hope.
⸻
Cassian’s expression darkened.
Dangerously.
Because he understood exactly what was happening.
The game was slipping away.
⸻
Aldric slowly opened the journal.
The pages trembled in the wind.
Then he stopped.
His finger resting upon a specific entry.
His eyes lifted toward the crowd.
Toward Selene.
Toward Elaria.
And finally—
Toward Cassian.
⸻
“I wrote this entry myself.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The old man took a breath.
Then began reading.
“On the night of the Lunar Eclipse…”
“Princess Elaria was born.”
Tears immediately filled Selene’s eyes.
The crowd listened.
Captivated.
⸻
Aldric continued.
“By royal decree, only five individuals were informed of her existence.”
The square grew quieter.
If such a thing was possible.
Five people.
Only five.
⸻
Then came the sentence.
The sentence that shattered everything.
“Among them was Councilor Cassian Veyr.”
The crowd exploded.
Chaos erupted.
People shouted.
Nobles panicked.
Guards surged forward.
⸻
Cassian’s face became pale.
Then cold.
Then something worse.
Resigned.
⸻
Because for the first time—
The traitor had been publicly connected to the secret.
Not proven.
Not yet.
But connected.
And everyone knew it.
⸻
Then something happened that nobody expected.
Cassian laughed.
The sound echoed through the square.
Calm.
Amused.
Almost relieved.
The reaction immediately silenced everyone.
⸻
Slowly…
The councilman removed his ceremonial badge.
Then his council robes.
And dropped them onto the ground.
Gasps spread through the crowd.
⸻
Selene stared.
“What are you doing?”
Cassian smiled.
A genuine smile.
The first genuine smile Elaria had ever seen from him.
And somehow—
It was terrifying.
⸻
“You still don’t understand.”
His voice echoed unnaturally.
The air itself seemed darker.
Colder.
Wrong.
⸻
A black symbol appeared on his wrist.
The same symbol from the assassin’s coin.
The symbol of the Shadow Court.
The crowd recoiled.
Fear exploded.
⸻
Cassian raised his head.
And finally revealed the truth.
“I didn’t betray the kingdom.”
His smile widened.
“I betrayed the throne.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then he spoke the words that changed the entire story.
The words that transformed a conspiracy into a war.
“And your father is still alive.”
Everything stopped.
Elaria couldn’t breathe.
Selene couldn’t move.
Lucien froze.
Varis looked ready to collapse.
⸻
Cassian laughed.
A dark laugh.
A victorious laugh.
Then black smoke exploded around him.
Guards rushed forward.
Too late.
The councilman vanished.
Gone.
Escaped.
⸻
Leaving only his final words echoing through the square.
“Ask the Throne what really happened nineteen years ago.”
- Writer
