CHAPTER 11
1659 Words
The Betrayer’s Blood
The fourth bell rang.
The sound rolled across the valley like thunder.
Aurelia stood frozen.
Kael's words repeated themselves in her mind.
My father was the man who opened the gates.
The ruins trembled.
Dust fell from the broken towers.
Far beneath the palace, something groaned.
Aurelia stared at Kael.
“You knew.”
Kael didn't answer.
“You knew your father opened the gates.”
“I knew he was responsible.”
“And you never thought I deserved to know?”
His eyes hardened.
“I didn't know until tonight.”
“Then what did you know?”
Kael looked away.
“That my father betrayed Seraphine.”
Aurelia's hands curled into fists.
“And you still kept it from me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From the truth?”
“From what the truth would make you think of me.”
Aurelia laughed bitterly.
“You keep saying that as though lying was somehow protecting me.”
Kael flinched.
Before he could respond, the palace doors slammed open.
A wave of silver energy swept through the valley.
Rowan grabbed Aurelia's arm.
“Down!”
They dropped as the energy passed overhead.
The moment it disappeared, the ground split.
Aurelia stumbled backward.
From beneath the cracks came silver flames.
They weren't ordinary fire.
They moved like living threads, crawling across the stones toward the palace.
Kael stared at them.
“Moonfire.”
Aurelia looked at him.
“You said it was ancient power.”
“It is.”
“What does it do?”
Kael's expression darkened.
“No one knows.”
Rowan shook his head.
“That's not entirely true.”
Kael turned.
“Rowan.”
“The Moonfire doesn't destroy kingdoms.”
Aurelia frowned.
“Then what does it do?”
Rowan looked at her.
“It remembers them.”
Aurelia's breath caught.
“What does that mean?”
“It preserves what happened. Every betrayal. Every death. Every promise.”
Aurelia looked toward the palace.
“And every secret?”
Rowan nodded.
“Especially secrets.”
The silver flames suddenly rose.
A figure appeared within them.
A woman.
Seraphine.
But this time she wasn't a distant apparition.
She looked real.
Her silver dress moved around her as though caught in an invisible wind.
Her eyes found Aurelia.
“My child.”
Aurelia couldn't breathe.
Kael stepped in front of her.
Seraphine's expression hardened.
“Move.”
Kael didn't.
“You don't belong here.”
Seraphine's gaze shifted toward him.
“Neither did your father.”
Kael's jaw tightened.
“He's dead.”
“He deserved to be.”
Aurelia stepped around Kael.
“Tell me what happened.”
Seraphine looked at her.
“You already saw.”
“I saw fragments.”
“You saw enough.”
“I need the truth.”
The queen's expression softened.
“Truth is rarely kind.”
“I don't care.”
Seraphine smiled sadly.
“You have your mother's courage.”
Aurelia froze.
“My mother?”
“She carried my blood.”
The world seemed to stop.
Aurelia stared at her.
“What?”
Kael looked at Seraphine.
“You're saying Aurelia is—”
“My descendant.”
Aurelia's heart hammered.
“No.”
The word came out as a whisper.
“My mother never said anything.”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because the truth was hidden from her.”
Aurelia shook her head.
“Why would my mother hide something like this?”
Seraphine looked toward the mountains.
“Because those who wanted the Moonfire believed my bloodline ended with me.”
Aurelia swallowed.
“But it didn't.”
“No.”
Seraphine looked directly at her.
“It survived.”
The silver bond between Aurelia and Kael suddenly burned.
Kael grabbed his chest.
Aurelia did the same.
Seraphine's expression changed.
Concern.
“That's impossible.”
Rowan stepped forward.
“What?”
Seraphine looked at the bond.
“The Moon chose him.”
Kael looked at Aurelia.
“What does that mean?”
Seraphine's voice became quiet.
“The Moonfire doesn't create bonds without purpose.”
Aurelia's stomach tightened.
“So you're saying this bond was planned?”
“No.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“It was awakened.”
“By what?”
Seraphine looked at the silver thread.
“Blood.”
Kael frowned.
“My blood?”
“Your father's.”
Silence.
Kael's face hardened.
“What did my father do?”
Seraphine didn't answer immediately.
Then she said,
“He didn't simply open the gates.”
Aurelia waited.
“He made a bargain.”
Kael's eyes narrowed.
“With whom?”
Seraphine looked toward the darkness beneath the palace.
“With the thing that sleeps beneath my kingdom.”
The ground trembled.
Aurelia looked down.
Something moved beneath the stone.
“What thing?”
Seraphine's voice dropped.
“The first Moonborn.”
Rowan's face went pale.
Aurelia looked at him.
“You know what she's talking about.”
Rowan didn't answer.
“Rowan.”
He closed his eyes.
“The First Moonborn was believed to be the original creature born from Moonfire.”
“And?”
“It was not a wolf.”
Aurelia felt a chill.
“Then what was it?”
Rowan looked toward the palace.
“A god.”
The word seemed to echo through the valley.
Kael shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
“Your father didn't think so.”
Seraphine's gaze returned to Kael.
“He promised the First Moonborn something in exchange for power.”
“What?”
“My kingdom.”
Aurelia's eyes widened.
“He sacrificed Seraphine?”
“No.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“He offered something more valuable.”
Kael stared at her.
“What?”
Seraphine's eyes moved toward Aurelia.
“Her bloodline.”
Aurelia couldn't move.
“My bloodline?”
“Your ancestors carried a fragment of the Moonfire within them.”
Aurelia touched her pendant.
“The pendant…”
“Was a seal.”
She looked at it.
“A seal for what?”
Seraphine's expression became sorrowful.
“For the power sleeping inside you.”
Aurelia's breath caught.
The silver flames around Seraphine suddenly flickered.
She looked toward the palace.
“We have very little time.”
“Why?”
“Because the First Moonborn knows you're here.”
As if summoned by her words, a roar shook the entire valley.
The palace walls cracked.
Something enormous moved beneath them.
Kael drew his sword.
“We need to leave.”
Seraphine looked at him.
“You cannot.”
“Why?”
“The bond has already awakened.”
Kael looked at Aurelia.
“What happens if we leave?”
Seraphine answered.
“The Moonfire follows you.”
Aurelia stared at the palace.
“So we stay.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You're not deciding for me.”
“I know what this place does.”
“You know what your father did. That's not the same thing.”
His eyes flashed.
“Aurelia—”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“For once, I want the truth before you decide what I can handle.”
Kael fell silent.
Then Seraphine whispered,
“Good.”
Aurelia looked at her.
“Good?”
“You have his courage.”
“Whose?”
Seraphine smiled.
“Your mother's.”
Aurelia's heart clenched.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me everything.”
Seraphine's form began to fade.
Aurelia stepped forward.
“Wait!”
“I cannot.”
“You can't just leave!”
“I am not leaving.”
Seraphine looked toward the palace.
“I am waiting.”
“For what?”
Her gaze settled on Aurelia.
“For you to remember.”
The silver flames disappeared.
The valley fell silent.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the palace doors opened wider.
A low growl came from within.
Kael stepped beside Aurelia.
“We need to go.”
She looked at him.
“No.”
His brow furrowed.
“We can't fight whatever is in there.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you staying?”
Aurelia looked toward the darkness.
“Because my entire life has been built on secrets.”
She touched the crescent pendant.
“And I'm done running from them.”
Kael stared at her.
Something changed in his expression.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Determination.
He lowered his sword.
“Then I'm coming with you.”
Aurelia hesitated.
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the palace.
“But whatever is waiting inside knows my blood.”
He turned to her.
“And apparently, it knows yours too.”
Rowan sighed.
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
Aurelia glanced at him.
“You're coming too?”
Rowan gave her a tired look.
“Someone has to keep you two alive.”
For the first time since they entered the ruins, Aurelia almost smiled.
Almost.
Then a voice whispered from inside the palace.
Not Seraphine.
Not the First Moonborn.
A voice Aurelia recognized.
Her mother's.
“Run, Aurelia.”
She froze.
The voice came again.
“Whatever you do…”
A pause.
Then—
“Do not let Kael enter the palace.”
Aurelia slowly turned toward him.
Kael had heard it too.
His face had gone completely pale.
The palace doors began to close.
Aurelia looked from the closing doors to Kael.
“Why doesn't my mother want you inside?”
Kael stared at the darkness.
“I don't know.”
The doors slammed shut.
A second later, something struck them from the other side.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then silence.
Aurelia tightened her grip on her pendant.
Whatever had been waiting beneath Seraphine's kingdom was awake.
And now—
It knew her name.
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