Chapter Thirty- Two: The Secret In The Chapel
1597 Words
The old chapel stood in the forgotten eastern wing of Blackthorn Palace, separated from the main buildings by a narrow courtyard and a row of ancient trees.
Moonlight filtered through broken windows, illuminating the weathered stone walls. The chapel had once been a place where royal families gathered to pray before important journeys, weddings, and coronations. Now, its doors remained locked, and few palace residents remembered that it existed.
Kael stood before the entrance with Seraphina and Ronan.
“According to my mother, my father stored the document somewhere inside,” he said. “She never told me exactly where.”
Seraphina touched the crescent pendant at her neck.
“Then we search until we find it.”
Ronan examined the door. “There are fresh marks around the lock.”
Kael's expression hardened. “Someone has been here recently.”
“Lucien?” Seraphina asked.
“Possibly. We shouldn't assume he is the only person involved.”
Kael removed a small key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
The hinges groaned as he pushed it open.
Inside, dust covered the wooden benches. A faded painting of the Moon Goddess hung above the altar, its silver paint almost completely worn away.
Seraphina stepped into the chapel.
Immediately, her pendant grew warm.
She stopped.
“Kael, something is here.”
He turned toward her. “What do you feel?”
“Magic. Old magic.”
A faint silver glow spread across her wrist.
The light moved toward the altar, illuminating three stars carved into the stone beneath it.
Ronan drew his sword.
“Your Majesty, we may not be alone.”
Kael shifted slightly, listening for movement beyond the walls. Dread stirred within him, alert to a presence he could not identify.
“Stay close,” he told Seraphina.
She gave him a sharp look.
“I can protect myself.”
“I know. I'm asking you to stay where I can reach you if something happens.”
After a moment, she nodded.
Together, they approached the altar.
---
The three stars beneath the altar began to glow.
Seraphina knelt and ran her fingers over the carvings. A sudden image flashed through her mind: a woman with silver hair placing a small box beneath the stone while hurried footsteps echoed behind her.
Queen Lyra.
Seraphina pulled her hand away, breathing hard.
“I saw my mother.”
Kael crouched beside her.
“What was she doing?”
“Hide something beneath the altar. She looked frightened, but she wasn't alone.”
“Could you see who was with her?”
Seraphina closed her eyes, trying to recover the fading memory.
“A man stood near the door. He wore a royal uniform, but I couldn't see his face.”
Ronan looked toward Kael.
“Could it have been one of King Alaric's guards?”
“Perhaps,” Kael replied. “But we won't know until we find what she hid.”
He examined the altar and discovered a narrow indentation between the carved stars.
The silver key from his father's chamber fit perfectly.
When he turned it, a small section of stone slid aside.
Inside lay a silver box.
Seraphina's hands trembled as Kael lifted it out.
The box was decorated with a crescent moon and three stars. Unlike the surrounding stone, its surface was spotless, as though time had never touched it.
Kael opened the lid.
Inside lay several folded papers, a small crystal, and a letter bearing Queen Lyra's personal seal.
Seraphina reached for the letter.
The moment her fingers touched it, silver light burst across the chapel.
The crystal rose into the air.
A woman's voice filled the room.
“If my daughter has returned, then the darkness has found her again.”
Seraphina froze.
“Mother?”
The light gathered into a faint image of Queen Lyra.
Her features were blurred, as though the vision had travelled across a great distance.
“Seraphina, my beloved child, if you are hearing this, I was unable to return to you.”
Tears filled Seraphina's eyes.
“I did not abandon you,” the image continued. “I sent you away because the people hunting us wanted your blood. Your powers were sealed to protect you until the day you could defend yourself.”
The image flickered.
“The Shadow Council seeks the ancient gate beneath the royal palace. They believe the Moonborn heirs can awaken the power within it and make them rulers over every supernatural kingdom.”
Kael stepped closer.
“What is behind the gate?” he asked, although he knew the image could not hear him.
Queen Lyra continued.
“The gate must never be opened by those who bear the black crescent. Their magic was created to bind, not protect. If they obtain the blood of the royal Alpha and the Moonborn heirs, they will break the final seal.”
The crystal pulsed.
“Trust the one who stands beside you when the truth is revealed. But beware the one who claims loyalty while hiding behind the crown.”
The image began to fade.
Seraphina reached toward it.
“Mother, who betrayed you? Who took me away?”
For a brief moment, the image became clearer.
Then Queen Lyra spoke one final sentence.
“The person who saved you was someone your father trusted.”
The light vanished.
The crystal fell into Kael's palm.
Silence settled over the chapel.
Seraphina wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“She knew she might never see me again.”
Kael looked at her, unsure what to say.
He had spent years believing that losing a parent meant living with unanswered questions. Now he understood that Seraphina had carried those questions for her entire life.
“I am sorry,” he said quietly.
She nodded but did not answer.
For once, she did not pull away when he stood beside her.
---
Ronan unfolded the papers from the box.
“Your Majesty, these appear to be records of meetings between Queen Lyra and members of the royal household.”
Kael took the top document.
Several names were listed beneath a heading that read: Those entrusted with the protection of the Moonborn heir.
One name belonged to a royal physician.
Another belonged to a former palace guard.
The third made Kael's stomach tighten.
Prince Theron Draven.
“My uncle,” he whispered.
Seraphina looked at him.
“The uncle your mother mentioned?”
Kael nodded slowly.
“He was believed to have died years before my father's death. But according to these records, he helped protect your mother.”
Ronan examined the date.
“These documents were written shortly before Queen Lyra's kingdom fell.”
Kael turned another page.
A handwritten note had been added beneath Theron's name.
The prince has agreed to carry the child beyond the reach of the council. His identity must remain concealed until the danger has passed.
Seraphina stared at the words.
“Prince Theron may have been the person who took me to St. Agnes.”
“Or he may have arranged for someone else to do it,” Kael replied. “We need more evidence before we can be certain.”
A sound came from the chapel entrance.
All three turned.
A figure stood in the doorway, its face hidden beneath a dark hood.
Ronan raised his sword.
“Identify yourself!”
The figure did not answer.
Instead, it threw a small black object onto the floor.
The object shattered.
Black smoke spread through the chapel.
Kael seized Seraphina's hand and pulled her away from the altar as Ronan moved to intercept the intruder.
But the figure had already vanished.
When the smoke cleared, the silver box remained open on the altar.
The papers were gone.
Only the crystal and Queen Lyra's letter remained.
Ronan returned, furious.
“I searched the courtyard. Whoever that was has escaped.”
Kael examined the empty box.
“They knew exactly what we would find.”
Seraphina looked at the letter in her hands.
“Then someone has been watching us from the beginning.”
Kael nodded grimly.
“And now they know we have proof that Prince Theron was involved.”
He turned toward Ronan.
“Double the palace patrols. No one leaves Blackthorn without being questioned. Find out who knew we were coming here.”
Ronan bowed and hurried away.
Seraphina remained beside the altar, studying her mother's final message.
The person who saved her had been trusted by her father.
But why had that person hidden her identity for so long?
And if Prince Theron had survived, where was he now?
Before she could ask, the crystal in Kael's hand began to glow again.
Three stars appeared inside it.
Then a fourth symbol emerged beneath them.
A black crescent.
Kael's face darkened.
“Seraphina, I think the gate has already begun to open.”
---
Far beneath Blackthorn Palace, Lord Lucien Voss stood before an enormous stone door.
The ancient carvings across its surface had begun to shine.
A hooded messenger knelt behind him.
“We recovered the documents,” the messenger reported. “But the king retained the letter and the crystal.”
Lucien's jaw tightened.
“Then we must proceed before he understands what they mean.”
“The royal blood is not yet secured.”
Lucien placed his black crescent ring against the stone.
A deep vibration rolled through the chamber.
“Soon,” he whispered.
The gate answered with a sound like a distant heartbeat.
And from somewhere beyond the stone door, something began to awaken.
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