Secrets Beneath Blackwood
1125 Words
The white door stood open.
No glowing bridges.
No ancient voices demanding judgment.
Just silence.
The chamber beyond waited.
Lucian stood beside the broken throne, smiling like he’d already won.
“My king,” he said quietly, nodding up at the ancient figure hanging above them.
The creature didn’t even look at him.
Its empty eyes stayed locked on Luna.
Then Darius.
Then Evelyn.
Nothing else.
No commands.
No prophecy.
No trial.
Just watching.
Luna stepped forward.
Darius grabbed her hand.
“Stay behind me.”
She looked at him.
“You know I won’t.”
A tired smile tugged at his lips.
“Yeah… I know.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“Then we go together.”
“Together.”
Evelyn stepped in beside them.
“Me too.”
Mason immediately moved next to her.
“You’re not walking into another room full of ancient monsters without me.”
Cassian shook his head.
“The chamber doesn’t reject anyone.”
Everyone looked at him.
“It just shows you what’s been hidden.”
“So we all go,” Luna said.
“No one gets left behind.”
Darius nodded.
“No one.”
Lucian sighed like he was bored.
“How disappointing.”
He spread his hands.
“I spent centuries building this place.”
Mason glanced around.
“Could use some decorating.”
Serena smirked.
“Was just thinking that.”
Even Darius let out the smallest breath of a laugh.
Lucian’s smile faded a little.
“I liked it better when people feared me.”
“We’re getting there,” Mason said. “Just… not for the reasons you wanted.”
They went in together.
The huge circular room was carved from white stone streaked with silver.
Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling.
Thousands of journals.
Maps.
Ancient weapons locked behind crystal.
Portraits of kings and queens no one remembered anymore.
Nothing attacked them.
Nothing moved.
“This…” Luna whispered.
“…is a library.”
Cassian nodded slowly.
“The Hidden Archive.”
Alden stared.
“I thought this was destroyed.”
“So did I.”
Luna walked toward the shelves.
Each book had a name instead of a title.
Some were familiar.
Some had been lost to history.
“What is all this?”
Cassian answered quietly.
“The truth.”
Darius stopped under the suspended throne.
The ancient king still hadn’t moved.
Eyes open.
Watching.
Waiting.
“Is he alive?”
Cassian followed his gaze.
“No.”
“Then what is he?”
“The last king who thought control mattered more than love.”
Silence settled over them.
Luna looked at Darius.
Without a word, he slipped his hand into hers.
She smiled.
Cassian noticed.
“So did he.”
Everyone looked back at the ancient king.
Cassian went on.
“He lost the woman he loved because he stopped asking.”
Darius’s grip tightened slightly.
“I won’t.”
“I know.”
Evelyn drifted toward a long table.
A silver box sat alone in the center.
The key in her hand started to vibrate.
“It belongs here.”
Mason frowned.
“You don’t have to open it.”
She looked at him.
“I know.”
That answer eased something in him.
She wasn’t doing it because someone expected her to.
She was choosing it.
Evelyn slid the silver key into the lock.
The box clicked open softly.
Inside were hundreds of letters.
All addressed to her.
She blinked.
“What…?”
The first envelope read:
For Evelyn’s 10th Birthday
Her hands shook.
“My mother wrote these.”
Another envelope.
If you ever fall in love…
Another.
When you finally meet the right man…
Evelyn looked at Mason.
His throat tightened.
“She knew.”
Elara stepped closer, tears in her eyes.
“I wrote to you every year.”
“You’re dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
“The chamber kept them.”
Evelyn picked up another letter.
Open only if you start doubting yourself.
She laughed through tears.
“She knew me too well.”
“You’re her daughter.”
“No,” Evelyn whispered.
“I'm finally getting the chance to be.”
Across the room, Luna noticed another cabinet.
Unlike the others, it wasn’t locked.
Inside were dozens of old photos.
One caught her eye right away.
She picked it up carefully.
It showed Solara.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Not a queen.
Not holding a sword.
Just sitting under a tree.
Next to her…
A young man.
Gray eyes.
Dark hair.
Luna stared.
“Darius…”
He walked over.
Color drained from his face.
“That’s Kael.”
Luna looked closer.
Kael looked almost exactly like Darius.
Just softer.
Happier.
On the back someone had written:
Before the war took everything.
Darius ran his thumb along the edge.
“I’ve never seen him smile.”
Cassian’s voice went quiet.
“Neither had I.”
Lucian wandered the chamber like he wasn’t even trying to stop them.
He just watched them uncover everything.
His calmness made Luna uneasy.
She turned sharply.
“You’re letting us learn all this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because knowledge changes people.”
He looked straight at Darius.
“Sometimes for the worse.”
Darius folded the photo and slipped it into his pocket.
“I’ll take that risk.”
Near the back wall, Serena froze.
“There’s another door.”
Everyone turned.
Behind a huge tapestry was a narrow iron door.
Unlike the white entrance…
This one had fresh scratches.
Recent.
Someone had been using it.
Cassian frowned.
“That wasn’t here before.”
Lucian smiled.
“Oh…”
His amusement came back.
“You found it.”
Darius stepped in front of Luna.
“What’s behind it?”
Lucian’s red eyes gleamed.
“My real secret.”
Before anyone could react…
He pushed the iron door open.
A cold wind rushed through the chamber.
Rows of glass pods stretched into the dark.
Inside each one…
A sleeping werewolf.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Hundreds of them.
Alive.
Preserved.
Luna stepped closer, horrified.
“What is this?”
Lucian smiled.
“My army?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“My insurance.”
Darius’s voice dropped dangerously low.
“Who are they?”
Lucian looked almost proud.
“Every Alpha who ever said no to me.”
Luna’s heart slammed in her chest.
Then she saw one pod near the center.
She stopped breathing.
Inside was a man with gray eyes and black hair.
He looked exactly like Darius.
Not similar.
Exactly.
Darius stared at it.
His face went completely pale.
The plaque below read:
KAEL BLACKWOOD
STATUS: ALIVE
Silence broke.
Darius whispered one word.
“…Impossible.”
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