Chapter EightThe Queen’s Return
1433 Words
The castle shook again.
Dust rained from the ancient ceiling.
Elara grabbed the edge of the stone table to steady herself as another tremor ripped through the chamber.
“What is happening?” she shouted.
No one answered.
The guardian roared so loudly that the walls seemed to vibrate.
Cassian immediately moved toward Elara.
“Stay behind me.”
But Elara barely heard him.
Her eyes were fixed on the woman standing across the chamber.
Lysandra.
Her mother.
The woman from the portrait.
The woman Elara had spent her entire life believing was dead.
Lysandra looked exactly as she had in the painting.
Dark hair.
Silver eyes.
The same crescent-shaped mark beneath her collarbone.
And the same sadness Elara had seen in her childhood memories.
Elara took a hesitant step toward her.
“You’re really my mother?”
Lysandra’s lips trembled.
“Yes.”
One word.
It should have answered everything.
Instead, it created a hundred more questions.
“Why did you leave me?”
Lysandra closed her eyes.
“Because staying would have gotten you killed.”
“You could have come back.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every year.”
Elara stared at her.
“Then why didn’t I see you?”
“Because you weren’t supposed to.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
Lysandra stepped closer.
“You were four years old when the Moon Kingdom fell. Your father was murdered. The royal court was betrayed. The kingdom was taken from us.”
Elara’s throat tightened.
“My father was murdered?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
Lysandra looked toward Alaric.
The former King smiled.
“Careful.”
Lysandra’s expression hardened.
“You.”
Alaric laughed.
“You still blame me after all these years?”
“You ordered the attack.”
“I ordered a search.”
“You ordered the deaths of everyone who resisted.”
“And yet you’re still standing.”
Cassian stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Alaric’s eyes narrowed.
“You always were arrogant.”
Cassian raised his sword.
“And you always were a coward.”
The soldiers surrounding them shifted.
Elara looked around.
There were too many.
Even with Cassian, Lysandra, and the guardian, they were surrounded.
“We need to leave,” Cassian said.
Lysandra nodded.
“There’s a passage beneath the throne room.”
Alaric heard her.
His expression changed.
“Stop them.”
The soldiers charged.
Everything happened at once.
Cassian met the first warrior head-on.
Steel clashed.
Lysandra raised her hand.
A burst of silver energy struck two soldiers and sent them across the chamber.
Elara froze.
Her mother had magic.
Real magic.
The guardian lunged forward and knocked another group of soldiers away.
“Elara!” Lysandra shouted.
Elara turned.
A soldier was coming straight toward her.
She raised her hands instinctively.
The silver glow returned.
This time, it was stronger.
The soldier stopped.
His weapon flew from his hand.
He stared at Elara in terror.
“What are you?”
Elara didn’t know.
But something inside her answered.
Queen.
The power surged through her.
The soldier dropped to his knees.
The entire chamber went silent.
Even Alaric stared.
Lysandra whispered, “She’s awakened.”
Cassian looked at Elara.
There was wonder in his eyes.
And fear.
Elara lowered her hands.
The glow disappeared.
“What just happened?”
Lysandra rushed toward her.
“You’ve inherited the Moon Crown’s power.”
“I don’t want it.”
“You don’t get to choose.”
Elara’s eyes hardened.
“Then I choose what I do with it.”
Lysandra stopped.
For a moment, she looked almost proud.
Then another explosion shook the palace.
The ceiling cracked.
“Move!” Cassian shouted.
Lysandra grabbed Elara’s hand.
They ran.
Cassian followed behind them, fighting off anyone who got close.
They reached a narrow doorway hidden behind one of the ancient paintings.
Lysandra pressed her palm against the wall.
A secret passage opened.
“Inside.”
Elara entered.
Cassian followed.
The guardian came last.
Lysandra closed the entrance behind them.
For several seconds, they ran through darkness.
No one spoke.
Finally, they reached a small underground chamber.
Lysandra lit a candle.
Elara stared at her.
“Tell me everything.”
Lysandra sighed.
“I will.”
“No more secrets.”
“I promise.”
Elara crossed her arms.
“Start with my father.”
Lysandra looked at the floor.
“Your father’s name was Rowan Vale.”
Elara’s eyes widened.
“Vale?”
“Yes.”
“So that’s why I have the name.”
“He wasn’t from the royal family.”
“Then how did he become king?”
“He didn’t.”
Elara frowned.
“What?”
Lysandra looked at Cassian.
“Your father was never king. I was.”
Elara’s breath caught.
“You were the Queen?”
“The last Queen of the Moon Kingdom.”
Elara looked down at herself.
“So I’m…”
“The heir.”
Silence.
The words felt too enormous to understand.
Elara had spent her entire life believing she was powerless.
Now she was being told she had been born royalty.
But something still bothered her.
“If I’m the heir, why did everyone want me dead?”
Lysandra’s expression darkened.
“Because your bloodline possesses something no other royal family has.”
“The Moon Crown?”
“Not exactly.”
She touched the crescent mark beneath her collarbone.
“This.”
Elara looked down.
“The mark?”
“It is a seal.”
“A seal for what?”
Lysandra hesitated.
“The ancient wolves.”
Cassian frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“The first werewolves were not born from ordinary blood.”
Lysandra looked toward the guardian.
“They were created by the Moon Goddess.”
Elara stared at the creature.
“And the royal family?”
“We were chosen to control the ancient bloodline.”
Cassian’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was hidden from the packs for centuries.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever controls the ancient wolves can control every werewolf kingdom.”
Elara’s stomach dropped.
“So that’s why Alaric wants me.”
“Yes.”
“And the people who attacked my village?”
“Some were his soldiers. Others were working for someone else.”
Elara frowned.
“Someone else?”
Lysandra nodded.
“Alaric isn’t the only person searching for you.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“Who?”
Lysandra looked at him.
“The High Council.”
Cassian went still.
“They’ve been searching for the Moon heir since the kingdom fell.”
“Why would the council want her?”
“To control her.”
Elara’s hands curled into fists.
“So everyone wants something from me.”
Lysandra reached for her.
“I don’t.”
Elara stepped back.
“You left me.”
Lysandra’s face crumpled.
“I know.”
“You let me grow up thinking I was nobody.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I was afraid.”
Elara’s anger softened slightly.
“Of what?”
Lysandra looked at Cassian.
“Of the prophecy.”
Cassian frowned.
“What prophecy?”
Lysandra’s eyes filled with fear.
“The Moon Crown prophecy says the heir will return when the kingdom is ready to fall again.”
Elara swallowed.
“And?”
Lysandra whispered:
“The heir will either unite the werewolf kingdoms…”
She paused.
“…or destroy them.”
Silence filled the chamber.
Elara looked at Cassian.
“What happens if I choose neither?”
Lysandra gave a sad smile.
“Then someone will choose for you.”
A distant sound echoed through the passage.
Footsteps.
They were coming.
Cassian drew his sword.
“How did they find us?”
Lysandra shook her head.
“They couldn’t have.”
Another sound.
Closer.
Then a voice came through the stone door.
“Open the door, Elara.”
She froze.
She knew that voice.
Cassian looked at her.
“Who is it?”
Elara’s face went pale.
“It was in my memory.”
The voice spoke again.
“You’ve been hiding long enough.”
Lysandra whispered:
“No…”
Elara stared at the door.
“Who is that?”
Lysandra’s eyes filled with terror.
“The man who erased your memories.”
The door slowly began to open.
And behind it stood a man Elara had never seen before.
Yet somehow—
she remembered him.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD