CHAPTER 10
1826 Words
The Kingdom Beneath the Ashes
The roar came again.
Closer this time.
Aurelia's breath caught.
The silver thread between her and Kael pulsed once, twice, then stretched toward the distant mountains like a living thing pulling against an invisible leash.
She instinctively reached for her pendant.
It was burning.
Not warm.
Burning.
She tore it from beneath her cloak, but the moment her fingers touched the crescent-shaped silver, a flash of light exploded through the forest.
Kael stepped toward her.
“Aurelia!”
She stumbled backward.
“Don't touch me.”
He stopped.
For a moment, something wounded crossed his face.
Then the forest shook again.
Branches snapped overhead.
Rowan lifted his sword.
“We need to move.”
“Where?” Aurelia demanded.
“Anywhere that isn't here.”
A deep growl rolled through the trees.
Rowan's eyes narrowed.
“No.”
Kael looked at him.
“What?”
Rowan slowly turned toward the darkness behind them.
“We're already surrounded.”
Aurelia's stomach dropped.
Shapes began appearing between the trees.
One.
Then three.
Then six.
Their eyes glowed pale silver.
They weren't wolves.
They were something else.
Their bodies were too tall, their limbs unnaturally long, and their faces seemed almost human beneath the shadows.
Kael's hand went to his sword.
“Moonbound.”
Rowan's grip tightened.
“I thought they were extinct.”
“They were.”
One of the creatures stepped into the moonlight.
Its mouth opened.
Instead of a howl, a voice came out.
“Blood of Seraphine.”
Aurelia froze.
The creature tilted its head.
“Come home.”
Another voice answered from somewhere deeper in the forest.
“Come home.”
Then another.
“Come home.”
Soon the words echoed from every direction.
Aurelia's pulse raced.
“Why are they calling me that?”
Kael didn't answer.
She turned on him.
“Kael.”
His eyes remained fixed on the creatures.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear I'm not.”
Rowan stepped between them.
“Whatever argument you two want to have, save it.”
The nearest creature suddenly lunged.
Kael moved faster.
Steel flashed.
The creature was thrown backward, crashing into a tree.
But it rose almost immediately.
Aurelia stared.
“It didn't hurt it.”
Kael looked at his sword.
“Their bodies aren't completely physical.”
“Then how do we stop them?”
Rowan looked toward Aurelia.
“We don't.”
Aurelia frowned.
“What?”
“We run.”
They turned.
And ran.
The forest became a blur.
Branches scratched against Aurelia's arms as she followed Kael and Rowan through the trees.
Behind them came the sound of footsteps.
Too many.
Too fast.
Aurelia's lungs burned.
“Where are we going?”
“The mountains!”
“That's where the ruins are!”
“I know!”
She almost stopped.
“You're taking us toward them?”
Kael looked over his shoulder.
“If we stay here, they'll tear us apart.”
“And the ruins won't?”
His expression darkened.
“I never said that.”
They reached the edge of the forest.
Aurelia stopped.
Beyond the trees stood the mountains.
And beneath them—
A kingdom.
Or what remained of one.
Broken towers rose from a valley covered in black ash.
Stone walls stretched across the landscape like the bones of some ancient beast.
At the center stood the remains of a massive palace.
The Moon Palace.
Seraphine's palace.
Aurelia stared at it.
She had seen it before.
Not in person.
In dreams.
The same silver towers.
The same shattered gates.
The same enormous moon-shaped window overlooking the valley.
Her mother's stories had never mentioned this place.
Yet somehow—
Aurelia knew it.
“You've been dreaming about it,” Kael said quietly.
She turned toward him.
“How did you know?”
“You're looking at it like you've seen it before.”
Aurelia's throat tightened.
“I have.”
Rowan looked between them.
“Then we may have a problem.”
Aurelia looked at him.
“What problem?”
“You shouldn't be able to remember Seraphine's palace.”
“Why?”
“Because you were never here.”
The words sent a chill through her.
“I don't understand.”
Rowan lowered his sword.
“No one who wasn't alive during the Fall has ever described the palace correctly.”
Aurelia stared at the ruins.
“I didn't describe it.”
“You didn't have to.”
Rowan pointed toward the palace.
“Look.”
Aurelia followed his gaze.
The massive doors of the ruined palace were opening.
Slowly.
Silently.
No one was touching them.
A silver glow spilled from inside.
Kael stepped closer to Aurelia.
She instinctively moved away.
He stopped.
“Aurelia…”
“Don't.”
“I wasn't going to hurt you.”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
“That isn't the problem.”
Kael's expression changed.
She looked away.
“I don't know who you are anymore.”
He said nothing.
That silence hurt.
But before either of them could speak again, the silver thread between them pulled violently.
Aurelia gasped.
Her feet moved forward without her permission.
Kael caught her wrist.
The thread flared.
A shockwave exploded outward.
Rowan was thrown several feet back.
Kael stumbled but didn't let go.
“Aurelia!”
She screamed.
The world disappeared.
For one heartbeat, she wasn't standing in the ruined kingdom.
She was somewhere else.
Somewhere long ago.
The palace was whole.
Moonlight poured through enormous crystal windows.
Music filled the halls.
People dressed in silver and white moved through the grand chamber.
At the center stood a woman.
A queen.
Seraphine.
Aurelia knew her instantly.
The queen turned.
Her eyes met Aurelia's.
And Aurelia couldn't breathe.
They were the same eyes.
The same silver-gray eyes she had seen every morning in the mirror.
Seraphine smiled sadly.
“You came.”
Aurelia tried to speak.
“How do you know me?”
The queen looked beyond her.
Toward someone standing in the shadows.
A young boy.
Aurelia's heart stopped.
Kael.
He couldn't have been more than ten.
He stood beside several adults wearing the insignia of his family.
Aurelia watched helplessly as Seraphine's expression changed.
Fear.
Recognition.
Betrayal.
One of the men stepped forward.
“Give us the Moonfire.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“You don't understand what you're asking for.”
“We understand enough.”
The vision shifted.
Aurelia saw fire.
Heard screams.
Saw the palace gates fall.
Saw Seraphine standing alone beneath the moon.
And then—
Kael.
The boy was crying.
An older man grabbed his shoulder.
“Look away.”
Young Kael shook his head.
“No.”
“You are one of us.”
“No!”
His voice broke.
The vision shattered.
Aurelia returned to the present with a gasp.
She collapsed.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground.
“Aurelia!”
She shoved him away.
“You were there.”
Kael froze.
“I know.”
“You saw her.”
His face went pale.
“Yes.”
“You saw them kill her.”
Kael swallowed.
“Yes.”
Aurelia's eyes filled with tears.
“And you watched.”
His jaw tightened.
“I was a child.”
“You still remember.”
“I remember every night.”
The anger inside her faltered.
For the first time, she saw something beneath Kael's guarded expression.
Not guilt alone.
Grief.
He had carried it for years.
But Aurelia wasn't ready to forgive him.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Kael looked at her.
“Of what you'd think of me.”
Aurelia stared at him.
“You should have given me the choice.”
“I know.”
A long silence passed.
Then Rowan spoke.
“You two can deal with this later.”
Aurelia turned.
Rowan was staring at the palace.
His face had gone pale.
“What is it?”
He pointed.
At the top of the palace stood a figure.
A woman.
Dressed in a long silver gown.
Her hair moved despite the absence of wind.
Aurelia's blood turned cold.
“Who is that?”
Rowan whispered one word.
“Seraphine.”
Aurelia's heart stopped.
The woman raised her hand.
The entire ruined kingdom began to glow.
Kael stepped forward.
“That isn't possible.”
Seraphine's voice echoed through the valley.
“Nothing is impossible when the Moonfire remembers.”
Aurelia's pendant lifted from her hand.
She watched in horror as it floated into the air.
A thin stream of silver fire emerged from it.
The fire moved toward the palace.
Then the palace answered.
Aurelia suddenly understood.
The ruins weren't waking because she had arrived.
They had been waiting for her.
The silver fire struck the palace doors.
A massive symbol appeared across them.
A crescent moon surrounded by flames.
Aurelia's knees weakened.
Rowan whispered,
“The Moonfire.”
Kael looked at Aurelia.
His voice was barely audible.
“You're the heir.”
Aurelia shook her head.
“No.”
The voice of Seraphine echoed again.
“Blood remembers what the heart forgets.”
The palace doors opened completely.
Beyond them was darkness.
Then two silver eyes appeared.
Not Seraphine's.
Something much older.
Something that had been sleeping beneath the kingdom.
Aurelia felt the silver bond between herself and Kael tighten.
She looked at him.
“What is happening?”
Kael slowly drew his sword.
“I don't know.”
For once, Aurelia believed him.
Then the ancient voice spoke from inside the palace.
“The heir has returned.”
The ground cracked beneath their feet.
Aurelia grabbed Kael's arm.
He looked at her in surprise.
She didn't let go.
Not because she trusted him.
Not yet.
But because something deep inside her knew they were going to need each other.
The voice spoke again.
“And the blood of the betrayer stands beside her.”
Kael went completely still.
Aurelia looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
The darkness inside the palace moved.
And then the voice whispered the words that changed everything.
“Ask him who his father truly was.”
Kael's face drained of color.
Rowan's eyes widened.
Aurelia slowly released Kael's arm.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Kael didn't answer.
Aurelia stepped closer.
“Kael.”
Still nothing.
Then, from somewhere beneath the ruined palace, a bell began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
With every ring, the silver bond between Aurelia and Kael grew brighter.
And beneath their feet, something ancient began to wake.
Kael finally looked at her.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“My father wasn't just one of the men who betrayed Seraphine.”
He swallowed.
“He was the man who opened the gates.”
Aurelia stared at him.
The fourth bell rang.
And the entire kingdom woke.
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