Moon String

Chapter Sixteen : Moon String

Chapter Sixteen :Moon String

He turned to Liora, who was standing behind me.

"Do you want your head on a plate?"

Liora instantly ran away,

Traitor.

I turned back to the king.

"So.. can I at least speak to Leo? I'm sure he'll understand me better" I said

"Quiet!" he yelled. "You're pretty noisy for a rogue."

Rogue?

Was that what he was calling me now?

I felt something twist inside my chest. Why did that hurt?

I felt my eyes water, he noticed and his expression changed slightly.

He reached for my hand.The moment he touched me, those strange sparks appeared again.

Why did I feel sparks whenever he touched me? Was it some weird effect of his lycan aura?

"Listen. I didn't mean to call you that" he said coldly, staring into my eyes.

"Is the Almighty Lycan King apologizing ?"

"I'm not apologizing. Don't let that get to your head."

I scoffed.

"Arrogant piece of—"I stopped myself

"What was that?" he asked, taking a step closer.

Damn those lycan ears.

"I didn't say anything"

He took another step closer.

Gosh, couldn't this man respect personal space?

And what was up with his perfume?It smelled ridiculously good.Why was I even noticing his scent right now?

He grabbed me by the throat and pinned me against the wall.My legs went weak.

Great.

Just what I needed. My body betraying me in the middle of an argument.

I stared at his face.

Damn, he was annoyingly beautiful like a Greek god.

"I don't like repeating myself. What did you say?" he asked

"I called you an arrogant piece of s**t"

" you don't scare me.I am not a rogue. I'm from royal blood"

"Did I ask for that information?"

"You needed that clarification"

For a moment, neither of us said anything.He leaned closer, and I immediately tensed.

Was he seriously trying to kiss me again?

Nope.

Absolutely not.

I wasn't going to let him embarrass me twice.

His gaze briefly dropped down to my chest,my breasts too be precise. I frowned.Was he checking me out??

"Are you done staring, you lycan pervert?"

"Nice t**s" He smirked

"Huh?"

His eyes snapped back to mine.

"One week"

I blinked.

"What?"

"That's your punishment. One week in the library."

My jaw dropped.

"Can I just stay in the dungeon instead?"He stared at me like I'd just announced that I wanted to marry a tree.

"Are you mentally okay, or is there some sort of brain defect I should be aware of?"

"I hate books!" I pleaded. "They're gross. They smell weird"

"You don't get to decide what your punishment will be"

"Just be lucky I'm not having you stand before a council of merciless elders who will decide your fate," he said. "And trust me, the least punishment they could give you is a painless death"

"Well... that's better than being locked in a library"

For a second, he looked like he was trying very hard not to lose his temper.

"Your punishment starts tomorrow morning"

He turned and walked away

Fuckkkk.

I screamed internally.

My stay here just kept getting worse.Liora came into the room and pulled me into a hug.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't."

I looked away. "But he punished me"

" I'm sorry. I hope you're not getting locked in the dungeon again"

"I wish"

Liora stared at me with a worried expression."Lyra, what did he do?"

"One week in the library."

She blinked

"How is that even a punishment? That's an easy sentence"

"You know how much I hate the smell of books"

"Are you being serious right now?"She rolled her eyes.

"I think he did that because he likes you" She winked.

I glared at her. "Don't piss me off, Liora."

I climbed into bed. I'd had enough drama for one night.All I wanted was to sleep.

"Okay, I won't push"

She pulled the blanket over me and lay down beside me, wrapping an around me and engulfing me in a big hug.

"Good night, Liora"

I closed my eyes and slept off

---

Liora and I were woken up by a polite knock on the door.At least someone in this palace had manners."The king ordered that you be placed under house arrest in the library" one of the guards called from outside.

"She's coming. At least let her get dressed," Liora replied, still half asleep.

"We'll give her twenty minutes to get dressed. After that, we'll have to break down this door and take her by force"

"Lrya, hurry up!" Liora yelled

I groaned.

I quickly got dressed and opened the door.

"I'm ready now"

Liora looked me up and down.

"Lyra..."

"What?"

"You've got the wrong shoes on"

I looked down.

She continued.

"And your dress is inside out"

I froze.

I slowly looked down at myself in horror.

Shit!!!!

She was right.

How could I be this stupid?

The guards stared at me.One of them looked away, clearly trying not to laugh.I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

"Can you just give me five more minutes to get ready?" I pleaded

"I'm afraid we can't," the older-looking guard replied. "You'll have to go like this. The king ordered that we should not be late"

Of course he did.

Now I had to parade around the palace dressed like a joke.

Why did Monday mornings have to be so horrible?

As the guards led me toward the library, I was accompanied by a mixture of hostile and sympathetic stares from the pack members.

"Ewww... what on earth is she wearing?"

"Is this some kind of new trend because that's so silly"

Some even laughed openly.

"She really reminds me of the pack's clown."

"So dumb"

I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from getting into a verbal fight with them.I had enough trouble already.

Then I spotted the Lycan King.He was walking past with his beta and a team of soldiers.

They stopped.

The nasty comments immediately died down.I smiled to myself.He's going to defend me.

Right???

To my disappointment, he didn't even look at me.He continued walking.

My smile disappeared.

How dumb of me to think that bastard would actually help me.

Wait....

Why was everyone staring at me?

Shit.

I suddenly realized I'd said that out loud.

How embarrassing!

Finally, we reached the library.I looked around.It actually didn't seem so bad.Maybe this punishment wouldn't be as terrible as I thought.

I desperately needed some alone time away from people especially the pack members.

The library was surprisingly peaceful.

There were shelves everywhere, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Some were so tall that I wondered if whoever built this place had a personal grudge against short people.

I looked around

No gossiping pack members.

No guards glaring at me every five seconds.

No King Valeric.

Perfect.

Maybe I could survive this.

I walked farther inside, running my fingers along one of the shelves.Dust.I immediately pulled my hand away."Never mind. I take it back. This place is disgusting"

"You'll be staying here for the entire week"the guard said

"I know"

"You are not permitted to leave without permission."

"I know."

"You are not allowed to damage any of the books"

I turned around.

"Why would I damage them?"

He gave me a look.

"Because you just called them disgusting"

"That's different. Insulting something isn't the same as destroying it."

He stared at me.

I stared back.Eventually, he shook his head and walked away.I watched him disappear through the doors.Finally.Freedom.

Well...

Library freedom.

I wandered between the shelves, looking for somewhere comfortable to sit.

There were tables scattered around the room, along with a few old chairs near the windows.I picked the chair closest to the window and dropped into it.

Maybe this couldn't be so bad. I could spend the week sleeping.Nobody said I actually had to read.I leaned back and closed my eyes.

Thirty minutes later, I was extremely bored.I opened my eyes and stared at the shelves.

"Fine"

I stood up."If I'm going to be trapped here, I might as well find something interesting."I wandered deeper into the library.Most of the books were boring.

History.

Politics.

Ancient laws.

Royal bloodlines.

More history.

More politics.

Whoever had organized this place clearly believed happiness was illegal.Then I noticed a section tucked away in the corner.Unlike the other shelves, this one was covered in a thin layer of dust.

I frowned.

Why did it look like nobody came here? I stepped closer.The books were older than the others.

Some didn't even have titles on their spines.

I pulled one out.

Nothing.

Another.

Nothing.

Then I noticed a thick, dark-covered book pushed almost completely behind the others.Only a few letters were visible.I reached for it.The book came loose with a soft thud.

I wiped the dust from the cover.My eyes widened.

MOON STRING.

My heart skipped.

I stared at the title.

No.

It couldn't be.

I remembered hearing about Moon String before.The mysterious object I'd been trying to understand.Then no one seemed willing to tell me much about.

I looked around the empty library.For once, I wasn't thinking about books smelling disgusting.

I quickly sat down at the nearest table and opened it.The first few pages were filled with strange writing and old illustrations.

I frowned as I tried to understand what I was reading."This is supposed to explain Moon String?"

I flipped another page.Then another.Something was wrong.I stopped.I flipped backward.Then forward again.I frowned.

"Where's the rest of the pages?"

Several pages had been torn cleanly from the book.Not ripped accidentally.Removed Carefully.My fingers ran over the empty edges.Someone had deliberately taken them.

"Why would anyone do that?"

I looked at the book again.There was something strange about finding this book here.And even stranger that someone had removed pages from it.

I kept turning the remaining pages, searching for anything that could explain what was missing.Nothing.Whoever had taken those pages had made sure they were gone.

I leaned back in my chair "Okay.."

I stared at the book."This just got interesting." For the first time since I'd been sentenced to this place, I wasn't bored.I was curious.Very curious.

I closed the book carefully and looked at the cover again.

Moon String.

What exactly was so important about this book that someone had gone through the trouble of removing parts of it?

And who had done it?

I was still thinking about it when another thought suddenly entered my mind.

The jade.

The accusation.

The way everything had happened so quickly.

I frowned.

Something about the whole situation had never sat right with me.Right as I was pondering on who framed me,the chief maid burst in.And as expected she "forgot" to knock

"The king ordered that I bring you breakfast "She smiled happily,delighted that I was being punished.

"Well drop it and get out" I hissed ,she wasn't going to get the satisfaction of seeing me punished

"I heard you were caught stealing the royal jade" she added "what were you thinking hiding the jade in your room. who hides a royal item in their wardrobe"

Wait..

How did she know the jade was found in my wardrobe.She wasn't there at that time.

"How did you know the royal jade was found in my wardrobe.You don't stay in the pack house so how did you find that out" I asked suspiciously.

"Uhmm the pack members told me and I saw the jade yesterday afternoon before you stole it" she stammered nervously, consciously avoid my intense gaze. Her hands were shaking.

"Which one of the pack members told you that" I pressed on

"If you saw it yesterday afternoon then that means you were the last person that see the jade and that also means you were the last person to go there"

"What?? That's not what I meant at all"

"Then what do you mean"I questioned

"What makes you think you have any rights to question me, you silly rogue She snarled

"I have to go now,the king must be waiting" She said as she hurriedly left the library.

I thought about her behavior.The way she'd acted when the jade was mentioned.

The way she had behaved nervously.I had enough time to myself to think about it.

"Wait"

My eyes narrowed.

What if she'd known exactly where the jade would be found .What if she'd deliberately made sure I was blamed?

I sat up straight.

"No she wouldn't dare"

I shook my head.

But the more I thought about it, the more pieces seemed to fall into place.

She had a reason to be around the royal chambers.She knew the palace better than I did.And she had enough access to make things difficult for me.

But I still needed solid evidence .I wasn't going to accuse her based on an assumption.

Not yet.

I looked down at the Moon String book.Two completely different mysteries.The missing pages were one thing.The stolen jade was another.And somehow, I'd managed to walk into both of them.

Of course I had.Why couldn't I just have a normal week?I closed the book and placed it carefully on the table.Then I leaned back in my chair.

A slow smile spread across my face.

If the chief maid had really framed me..

Then she had made one very big mistake.

She underestimated me.

I cracked my knuckles.

"If she wants to play games..."

My smile widened.

"...then let's play"

I had no idea what my revenge would be yet.But I was going to make sure she regretted ever framing me.

And for the first time since I'd arrived at the Lycan Kingdom.

I was actually looking forward to tomorrow