CHAPTER 8
534 Words
The Silver Guard
Kael didn't lower his sword.
“Step away from her.”
The stranger smiled.
“You still give orders as though you are the prince.”
Aurelia's eyes narrowed.
Prince?
She looked at Kael.
He said nothing.
The stranger lowered his hood.
“My name is Rowan. We are the Silver Guard.”
Aurelia looked at the others.
“The Silver Guard of Seraphine?”
Rowan nodded.
“We protected the Queen until the night her kingdom fell.”
Kael's jaw tightened.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
“We did.”
Rowan's eyes moved to Aurelia.
“Until her blood awakened.”
Aurelia stepped forward.
“You knew my mother?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know me?”
Rowan studied her face.
“You have Seraphine's eyes.”
Aurelia's breath caught.
Kael stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Rowan's expression hardened.
“You're still protecting the truth from her.”
Aurelia looked at Kael.
“What truth?”
He didn't answer.
Her chest tightened.
“Kael.”
“There are things you aren't ready to hear.”
Aurelia gave a bitter laugh.
“I'm getting tired of hearing that.”
The silver bond suddenly flared between them.
Rowan stared at it.
“So it is true.”
“What?”
“The Moon bound Seraphine's heir to him.”
Aurelia's stomach dropped.
“To who?”
Rowan looked directly at Kael.
“To the bloodline that ended her kingdom.”
Aurelia stared at Kael.
“No.”
The word came out quietly.
She shook her head.
“No. You're telling me the Moon bound me to the family that destroyed mine?”
Kael's expression hardened.
“That isn't what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened!”
Her voice echoed through the trees.
Kael opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Aurelia felt something twist inside her.
All night, she'd been trying to understand the bond, the Moonstone, her mother's secrets.
She had trusted Kael more than she wanted to admit.
And now she was standing in front of a man whose family might have destroyed everything her bloodline once was.
“You knew,” she whispered.
“I knew there were secrets.”
“You knew enough to be afraid.”
Kael's silence hurt more than an answer.
Rowan reached inside his cloak and pulled out a weathered piece of metal.
A royal insignia.
Aurelia recognized the symbol immediately.
It was identical to the seal on Kael's sword.
Her fingers went cold.
Rowan spoke quietly.
“Your Majesty, Seraphine wasn't killed by an unknown enemy.”
He looked at Kael.
“She was killed by the Night Court.”
Aurelia's eyes filled with disbelief.
She looked at Kael again, searching his face for something that would prove Rowan wrong.
There was nothing.
“Tell me he's lying.”
Kael didn't answer.
Aurelia stepped back.
The silver bond between them remained bright.
For the first time, she wished she could tear it apart.
Because the man she was bound to might be the heir of the people who destroyed her family.
And somehow, that hurt more than the thought of losing the bond ever could.
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