Chapter 16: The Queen's Prophecy
345 Words
Elara sat beneath the memory tree long after the circlet had dimmed in her lap.
Caelen stood nearby, silent but watchful, as though afraid the grove might shift again and swallow them whole. But Elara was not afraid. Not anymore.
“I saw her,” she said finally. “My mother.”
Caelen nodded, his expression unreadable.
“She was beautiful,” Elara whispered. “And sad.”
“She carried the weight of the Court in her heart,” he said. “And the prophecy in her blood.”
Elara looked up sharply. “The prophecy?”
He hesitated, then crouched beside her. “There is a reason Thorne hunts you. It’s not just power he seeks—it’s a fate he fears.”
Elara’s breath caught.
“Before your mother fell,” Caelen continued, “she left behind a prophecy. That when the stars realign, and the silver bloom awakens, the heir of moonlight will rise—and with her, the Court will be reborn.”
“Silver bloom,” Elara echoed, remembering the way flowers had burst from the earth beneath her feet.
“Yes,” he said. “You are the bloom.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know anything about ruling a Court. I grew up milking goats and reading by candlelight.”
“And that is what makes you strong,” Caelen said. “You remember kindness. You’ve lived outside of power. You won’t be consumed by it.”
Elara looked down at the circlet again.
“If I claim this,” she said softly, “Thorne will come for me.”
“He will come regardless,” Caelen replied. “But this time, you won’t be alone.”
Elara looked into his eyes, and a strange calm settled in her chest. Not peace, exactly—but purpose.
“I want to see the Moon Court,” she said.
A slow smile touched Caelen’s lips. “Then we’ll make the journey together.”
Above them, a blossom fell from the tree—silver, glowing, and whole.
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- Writer
