CHAPTER 12
1468 Words
The Door That Remembers
For several moments, no one spoke.
The silence after the warning was worse than the roar that had shaken the palace.
Aurelia stared at Kael.
He stared back.
Neither moved.
Then Aurelia asked quietly,
“Did you hear her?”
Kael swallowed.
“Yes.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“And she told me not to let you enter that palace.”
“I heard.”
Aurelia searched his face.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't expect you to believe anything I say.”
The answer surprised her.
Kael looked away.
“You shouldn't.”
Rowan stepped between them.
“We don't have time for this.”
Aurelia turned toward him.
“What do you suggest?”
“We leave.”
Aurelia glanced at the palace.
“No.”
Rowan frowned.
“Aurelia—”
“My mother knew this place. Seraphine knew this place. Kael's father made a bargain here.”
She touched the pendant around her neck.
“And whatever is beneath this kingdom knows me.”
Her voice hardened.
“I'm not leaving without answers.”
Rowan sighed.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
Kael looked at the palace doors.
“Then we don't use the main entrance.”
Aurelia looked at him.
“You know another way in?”
“My father used one.”
Her expression tightened.
“Of course he did.”
Kael ignored the bitterness in her voice.
“There was a passage beneath the eastern tower.”
Rowan's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“My father took me there once.”
“When?”
“Before the Fall.”
Aurelia's chest tightened.
“You were inside the palace before it was destroyed?”
Kael nodded.
“I was ten.”
“And you remember the passage?”
“I remember enough.”
He walked toward the eastern side of the ruins.
Aurelia followed.
After a few steps, Rowan caught up.
“You're sure about this?”
“No.”
Rowan gave a humorless smile.
“Excellent.”
They reached the eastern tower.
Most of it had collapsed, leaving piles of stone scattered across the ground.
Kael moved toward a section covered in vines.
He pulled out his knife and cut through them.
Behind them was a narrow stone door.
Aurelia stepped closer.
There was a symbol carved into it.
The same crescent surrounded by flames.
Her pendant began glowing.
Kael noticed.
“Don't touch it.”
Aurelia frowned.
“Why?”
“Because that's what my father said.”
She looked at him.
“And you listened?”
“I was ten.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the door opened by itself.
Cold air rushed from the darkness.
Aurelia shivered.
Something whispered from inside.
Her name.
“Aurelia…”
She froze.
Kael moved in front of her.
“Stay behind me.”
She stepped around him.
“I don't need you to protect me.”
“I know.”
“Then stop doing it.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Rowan walked between them.
“Save the arguing for when we're not standing in front of a cursed doorway.”
They entered.
The passage was narrow.
Their footsteps echoed against the stone.
Unlike the ruined kingdom above, this place seemed untouched by time.
Silver symbols covered the walls.
Aurelia slowed.
“These…”
She ran her fingers over one.
“They're the same symbols from my dreams.”
Kael looked at the markings.
“What do they say?”
“I don't know.”
Rowan stepped closer.
“I do.”
Aurelia turned.
“What?”
“They're warnings.”
“About what?”
Rowan read the nearest inscription.
“Three shall awaken the fire.”
He moved to the next.
“One shall carry it.”
Then another.
“One shall betray it.”
Aurelia looked at Kael.
“And the third?”
Rowan's expression changed.
“The third shall decide whether the realms survive.”
Silence.
Aurelia stared at the wall.
“Who are the three?”
Rowan didn't answer.
She turned to him.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Kael looked at another inscription.
“There.”
A name had been carved beneath the symbols.
AURELIA.
Her blood ran cold.
“That wasn't there before.”
Kael shook his head.
“It was.”
“You remember it?”
“I remember the name.”
Aurelia stared at him.
“You knew my name when you were ten?”
“No.”
“Then why is it here?”
Kael had no answer.
A deep vibration traveled through the passage.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Rowan raised his sword.
“Something is coming.”
Aurelia listened.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming from behind them.
They turned.
Nothing.
Then the footsteps came again.
Closer.
Kael raised his sword.
A shadow moved at the end of the corridor.
Aurelia's pendant burned.
The shadow stepped into the faint silver light.
A man stood there.
Tall.
Pale.
Wearing a black cloak.
Aurelia didn't recognize him.
Kael did.
His sword lowered.
“No.”
The man smiled.
“You've grown.”
Kael couldn't move.
Aurelia looked between them.
“Who is he?”
Kael's voice was barely audible.
“My father.”
The man smiled wider.
“That is what they told you.”
Aurelia felt the air leave her lungs.
Kael stared at the figure.
“You're dead.”
“I was.”
Rowan stepped forward.
“Stay back.”
The man laughed softly.
“Still protecting her?”
Rowan froze.
Aurelia looked at him.
“You know him?”
Rowan didn't answer.
The man's gaze shifted toward Aurelia.
Then he bowed.
“Princess.”
Aurelia's heart stopped.
“No one has called me that.”
“I know.”
Kael stepped between them.
“Don't call her that.”
The man smiled.
“Still pretending you aren't afraid?”
Kael's eyes flashed silver.
“Stay away from her.”
His father laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed at Aurelia.
“She isn't the danger.”
Aurelia frowned.
“Then what is?”
The man's smile disappeared.
“You are.”
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
“My father was the one who betrayed Seraphine.”
“No.”
The man shook his head.
“I was the one who tried to save her.”
Aurelia stared.
“That's not what Seraphine said.”
“Seraphine was already dead when you saw her.”
Aurelia's blood ran cold.
“What?”
“She isn't the one speaking to you.”
The passage suddenly went silent.
Kael looked at Aurelia.
“What did he mean?”
The man smiled.
“The thing beneath the palace learned how to wear her face.”
Aurelia's pendant went cold.
For the first time since entering the ruins, she felt truly afraid.
Her mother had warned her.
Seraphine had warned her.
And now Kael's father was telling her that the voice guiding them might not belong to the dead queen at all.
Aurelia whispered,
“Then who was speaking to me?”
The man looked toward the darkness behind them.
“The Moonfire.”
A deep heartbeat sounded beneath the floor.
Once.
Then again.
The walls began glowing.
Kael's father looked at Aurelia.
“And it has been lying to you from the beginning.”
Aurelia stepped backward.
“What does it want?”
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Kael.
“It wants what your father promised it.”
Kael's face hardened.
“What?”
His father's eyes moved to Aurelia.
“Her.”
The passage exploded with silver light.
Aurelia screamed as the bond between her and Kael ignited.
The walls began to c***k.
Something enormous roared beneath them.
And for the first time, Kael's father looked afraid.
“Run.”
Kael stared at him.
“You said it wanted her.”
“It does.”
His father's eyes widened.
“But it has finally realized something.”
“What?”
He looked directly at Kael.
“It can't take Aurelia while you're bonded to her.”
The ground split open.
A dark hand emerged from beneath the stone.
Kael grabbed Aurelia's hand.
“Run!”
They turned toward the passage.
Behind them, Kael's father shouted one final warning.
“Whatever happens—”
His voice was drowned out by the roar beneath the palace.
“DO NOT BREAK THE BOND.”
Aurelia looked at Kael.
For the first time, neither of them knew whether the bond between them was their curse—
or the only thing keeping her alive.
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