Chapter 5
1819 Words
“Your mother is still alive.”
The whisper disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Amara stood frozen in the darkness.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the silver flames along the walls burst back to life.
She spun around.
Nothing.
No creature.
No shadow.
Nothing standing behind her.
But the words remained.
Your mother is still alive.
Amara turned toward Kael.
He was staring at the empty doorway.
His face had lost all its color.
“You heard it,” she said.
Kael didn’t answer.
“You heard it, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me it’s lying.”
His silence was deafening.
Amara’s chest tightened.
“You can’t.”
Kael slowly lowered his sword.
“Amara…”
“My mother is alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you said she was taken.”
“Yes.”
“By the Moon King.”
Kael nodded.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“I didn’t know if she was still alive.”
“You just said you remembered what happened!”
“I remember her being taken.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“I know.”
Amara’s voice shook.
“You’ve known all this time.”
“I knew pieces.”
“You knew enough.”
Kael looked away.
She felt something inside her break.
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Her eyes burned.
“My mother. You. Whoever wrote that stupid prophecy. Everyone keeps deciding what I can handle.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Amara—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She wiped her eyes quickly.
“I want the truth.”
“You’re not ready.”
“Stop saying that!”
Her voice echoed through the chamber.
“I’ve been attacked twice. I’ve seen monsters. I have a mark that glows. You opened a portal to another kingdom. You told me my mother was a sorceress. Now you’re telling me she’s alive.”
She pointed at him.
“I think I’ve earned the truth.”
Kael stared at her.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he walked toward the table and placed his sword down.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to understand something first.”
“What?”
“Your mother wasn’t just a sorceress.”
Amara frowned.
“What was she?”
Kael looked directly at her.
“She was the Moon Queen.”
Amara stared at him.
The words didn’t make sense.
“The what?”
“The Moon Queen.”
“No.”
Kael didn’t move.
“My mother wasn’t a queen.”
“She was.”
“She was a teacher.”
“That was the life she created for you.”
“She raised me.”
“She was hiding you.”
Amara shook her head.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
She backed away from him.
“My mother would have told me.”
“She couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the king ordered her never to speak of the Moon Kingdom again.”
Amara’s heart pounded.
“And she obeyed?”
Kael looked down.
“For a while.”
“What happened?”
“She broke the king’s command.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to become smaller.
“What did she do?”
“She tried to take you out of the human world.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered someone wanted to use you.”
“Who?”
Kael hesitated.
“The king.”
Amara stared at him.
“Why would he want me?”
“Because your power doesn’t belong entirely to you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone can control the fate of both worlds through you.”
She shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
“When?”
“When you remember.”
Amara froze.
“Remember what?”
Kael looked at her.
“The night you were born.”
A sudden pain shot through her head.
She grabbed the edge of the table.
“Ah!”
Kael rushed toward her.
“Amara!”
Her vision blurred.
The room disappeared.
For a moment, she wasn’t in the hidden chamber.
She was somewhere else.
There was a woman running through a silver forest.
Her mother.
She was younger.
Terrified.
She was carrying a baby.
Amara.
Behind her, voices shouted.
“Find the child!”
Her mother ran faster.
She reached a huge silver tree.
Then she stopped.
Someone was waiting there.
A young boy.
Kael.
He looked exactly as he did now.
Her mother handed the baby to him.
“Take her.”
Kael’s younger face was filled with fear.
“What about you?”
“I’ll follow.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
Her mother touched the baby’s forehead.
“She cannot know who she is.”
“Why?”
“Because if the king finds out, he’ll kill her.”
Kael looked toward the darkness.
“What about you?”
Her mother smiled sadly.
“I’ll make sure he never finds her.”
The vision shattered.
Amara gasped.
She stumbled backward.
Kael caught her.
“Amara!”
She looked up at him.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I saw you.”
Kael went still.
“In the forest.”
He didn’t speak.
“You were holding me.”
His eyes filled with something she couldn’t identify.
“You were there when I was a baby.”
Kael nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“How old were you?”
He looked away.
“I don’t remember.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I don’t remember.”
“You looked seventeen.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“I’ve always looked seventeen.”
Amara stared at him.
“What are you?”
He didn’t answer.
“What are you, Kael?”
He took a slow breath.
“Moonborn.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t age like humans.”
“How old are you?”
He looked at her.
“Eighteen.”
Amara blinked.
“Eighteen?”
“Yes.”
“But you just said—”
“I meant eighteen by Moonborn years.”
“That doesn’t explain anything.”
“I know.”
“How long have you been alive?”
Kael looked toward the floor.
“Eighty-seven years.”
Amara’s mouth fell open.
“What?”
“Eighty-seven.”
“You’re eighty-seven?”
“Technically.”
She stared at him.
He looked seventeen.
He sounded seventeen.
He acted seventeen.
But he had been alive for almost a century.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not where I come from.”
Amara slowly stepped away.
“So all this time…”
“I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”
“You’ve been alive for eighty-seven years.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew me when I was a baby.”
“Yes.”
“And you were sent to find me.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
Kael didn’t answer.
“Why were you sent?”
His eyes met hers.
“Because I made a promise to your mother.”
“What promise?”
“That I’d protect you.”
Amara’s heart skipped.
“What did she say?”
Kael looked down.
“She told me that one day you would forget everything.”
“Everything?”
“Your kingdom. Your powers. Your past.”
“And?”
“She told me that when you finally remembered, the darkness would find you.”
Amara’s breathing slowed.
“That creature.”
Kael nodded.
“It has been waiting for you.”
A cold feeling moved through her.
“Why?”
“Because it isn’t really a creature.”
“Then what is it?”
Kael looked toward the darkened doorway.
“It’s a servant.”
“Whose?”
He didn’t answer.
“Kael.”
“The Shadow King.”
The name sent a chill through the room.
“Who is the Shadow King?”
Kael’s expression became grim.
“Someone who has been at war with the Moon Kingdom for centuries.”
“Why does he want me?”
“Because your mother defeated him once.”
“And now he wants revenge?”
“No.”
Kael looked at her.
“He wants what she took from him.”
“What?”
“The Moon Heart.”
Amara frowned.
“What is the Moon Heart?”
Kael’s eyes dropped to the crescent mark on her wrist.
“You.”
Amara’s heart stopped.
“No.”
“The Moon Heart was hidden inside you when you were born.”
She stared at her wrist.
The mark began glowing.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Until silver light filled the entire chamber.
Kael grabbed her hand.
“Amara, don’t fight it.”
“What is happening?”
“It’s waking up.”
The floor began to shake.
Books flew from the shelves.
Crystals shattered across the table.
Amara cried out as an intense warmth spread through her body.
Then she heard a voice.
Not Kael’s.
Not the creature’s.
A woman’s voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
Impossible.
“Amara…”
Her eyes widened.
“Mom?”
The voice whispered again.
“Find the silver door.”
The light disappeared.
Everything became still.
Kael stared at her.
Amara was breathing heavily.
“My mother spoke to me.”
Kael’s face had gone pale.
“What did she say?”
“Find the silver door.”
Kael’s expression changed.
He stepped backward.
“No.”
“What?”
“That door was sealed.”
“Where is it?”
“Amara, listen to me.”
“Where?”
He looked at the wall behind her.
A thin silver line had appeared across the stone.
Slowly, a door began forming.
Amara walked toward it.
Kael grabbed her arm.
“Don’t open it.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“Because the last person who opened that door never came back.”
Amara stared at the silver door.
Then she heard her mother’s voice again from the other side.
“Please, Amara.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“She’s waiting for me.”
Kael tightened his grip.
“And something else is waiting too.”
The silver door began to open by itself.
A cold wind swept through the chamber.
And from the darkness beyond it came a familiar voice.
Kael’s voice.
But Kael was standing beside her.
“Amara…”
She slowly turned toward him.
The real Kael looked terrified.
The voice from behind the door whispered again.
“Come home, Princess.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD