The Low Born Luna

Chapter3:The Coronation and the Knife ------------------------------

SELENA

She did not sleep all that night. Selena sat on the edge of her bed holding her betrothal seal very tightly in her hand. The silver disk had a Ravens crest on it. It felt warm because it was close to her body. This seal was supposed to be her way out of this place. It was supposed to be her proof that she mattered to the pack and that she would not end up dying like her mother and all the other poor women before her.

Now something was wrong.

The mark on Mia's hand was the problem.

She closed her eyes. Saw it again. That bright silver light, the moon shaped with thorns. This was the legend that every kid grew up hearing the mark that only appeared on the true mate for the Alpha.

It was not something that people decided.

It was fate.

Fate did not care about Selena's dreams.

The door made a noise. She turned around, her heart beating fast. It was just the wind. At least that is what she told herself.. When she turned back a shadow was standing in the corner of her room.

"You are shaking, " Lio said.

Selena jumped up. "How did you get in here? This is the women's area. You cannot be in here -"

"I go wherever I want, " Lio said. He stepped forward into the moonlight and Selena's breath caught. He was handsome. In a scary way like a sharp knife. "I saw what happened at the market. I saw your face when Mia's glove came off."

Selena held the seal tighter. "I do not know what you are talking about."

Lio tilted his head. "Mia has the mark. Which means your engagement is a lie. This whole ceremony is for show. In three days when the moon rises for the coronation the truth will come out. Raven will see her and the mark will call to his wolf and it will be like a strong instinct. He will not be able to fight it."

Selena said no, her voice cracking. "Mia is a born woman. The Council will never accept her -"

Lio cut her off, his voice low and smooth. "The Council follows the moon. They follow strength. The real question is, who do you want to follow?"

Selena looked at him. "What do you want?"

Lio said, "I want power. Raven is weak, not strong like he should be. He holds onto the ways because he is scared not because he really believes in them. He lets the pack suffer because he is too afraid to change things." Lio stepped closer. "I want an Alpha who knows that strength is the thing that matters.. I want you to stand next to him."

Selena said, "Me?"

Lio said, "The ceremony can still be yours. The crown, the title, the freedom." His eyes shone in the dark. "If the true mate is... Taken care of. If we prove her mark is fake, that is a trick. There are plants for that Selena. Things that make a mark glow or fade away. Orion has them and he has been hiding her. Training her and planning against the throne for six years."

Selena's breath caught. "You are asking me to frame her."

Lio said, "I am asking you to take what belongs to you." He reached out his thumb touching her cheek gently. She did not pull away. "Mia lied to you she hid the mark while you were dreaming of escaping. She let you believe your engagement was real. She let you hope." He leaned in closer, whispering, "How long before she takes Raven for herself? How long before she remembers she is the mate and looks at you like you are just a poor girl who used to help her?"

Selena closed her eyes.

She pictured Mia's face, cold.

The face of a girl who watched her father. Did not cry.

She pictured Rue holding onto Mia's leg and looking up at her like she was a hero.

Then she pictured the throne she had dreamed of. The chair, the warm hall, the power to stop the guards from hurting kids.

Mine she thought, it was supposed to be mine.

"Tell me what to do, " she whispered.

Lio smiled.

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MIA

The night before the coronation Mia was in the training yard behind Orion's place hitting a post until her hands were bleeding. She had wrapped her hand in cloth but the mark burned underneath like it was hungry.

"You are going to break your hand " Orion called out from the doorway.

"Good, " Mia said, hitting the post again. "Maybe if I break it the mark will go away too."

Orion said, "It does not work like that."

Mia turned around her chest moving up and down. "Then how does it work? You knew what this meant. You never told me."

Orion's face did not change. "I told you to hide it, I told you it was dangerous."

Mia said, "You did not tell me I was marked to be the mate. You did not tell me I was meant to be with the guy whose guards killed my father, a guy whose power is built on the bones of people like me."

Orion's voice cracked. "I did not tell you because fate is like a trap.. I wanted you to have a choice."

Mia looked at him and in the moonlight he looked very old and broken. He was the man who failed to save her mother, who came late for her father and who spent six years raising a kid who was not his.

Mia said, "I am sorry " quietly not for herself but for him.

Orion shook his head. "Selena came to see me today."

Mia's heart stopped. "What?"

Orion said, "She was asking about plants, things that make marks glow or fake ones." He looked her in the eye. "I think she is scared of Mia. I think someone is controlling her.. I also think you need to be very careful tomorrow. Do not go to the coronation."

Mia said, "I promised Selena I would be there."

Orion said, "Selena is -" He stopped himself. "Just promise me if something goes wrong, if the mark acts up or if you feel that pull... Run. Do not look back, do not wait for me. Just run."

Mia opened her mouth to argue. The sadness in his eyes made her stop.

"I promise," she lied.

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RAVEN

The Alpha stood on the balcony of the hall looking at the moon. Tomorrow he will be. He would take a mate chosen by the Council. A low-born woman named Selena who had a nice smile and always said the right things.

He did not feel anything.

His fathers voice was in his head saying that emotions are like a leash and you should cut it or get pulled around.

Tonight something was moving in his chest, a strong pull like the moon had reached inside his heart.

He put his hand on his chest frowning.

"Is something wrong?" Lio appeared beside him very quietly.

Raven said, "Do you believe in fate?"

Lio smiled a little. "I believe in strength. I believe in taking what is yours."

Raven looked at Lio, the guy who was like a brother to him. Lio was the one who understood that being strict is a kind of love, that being cruel is sometimes necessary and that the pack only survives if everyone follows the rules.

Raven said, "Tomorrow I want guards, in the hall something feels... Off."

Lio said, " course," and bowed his head, his eyes shining in the dark. "I will take care of everything."

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THE CORONATION

The great hall had never looked more beautiful or more scary.

Silver flags hung from the ceiling and special incense burned in iron bowls. The Council sat in their chairs looking very serious while the rest of the pack stood on the floor waiting to watch the joining of their Alpha and his chosen mate.

The room was full of warriors, healers, merchants and born women all packed together waiting for the ceremony to start.

Selena stood at the front wearing a white dress that cost a lot of money. Moonflowers were in her hair. Her face looked happy and peaceful.

Inside she was really scared.

Where Mia Selena thought, looking around the crowd for her friends' hair or her strong eyes. Mia promised she would be here.

Lio spoke softly to her "Are you nervous?"

Selena whispered back "Mia is not here."

Lio said, "She will come. The mark will bring her. When she gets here..." He gave her a bottle with clear liquid. "Put this in the wine. When Mia drinks it her mark will. Everyone will see it. Then you can tell them she used magic to fake it and the guards will take her away."

Selena held the bottle tightly. It felt cold against her skin.

She asked, "What if she does not drink it?"

Lio said, "Then we will do something else."

He looked across the room. Selena followed his gaze.

Mia was standing in the doorway wearing her rough clothes but she had a new glove on her hand. Her face was pale. For a moment her eyes met Selena's.

Then Raven stepped up onto the platform. Everyone fell silent.

He looked magnificent in his leather and silver chains.His eyes scanned the crowd. When they landed on Mia he froze.

He took a step forward. Then another.

Lio reminded him "Raven, the ceremony."

Raven. I looked around.

The priestess started speaking. Selena took the cup.

As the priestess spoke Selena's hand shook over the wine.

She looked at Mia, who was standing in the crowd, her gloved hand pressed against her chest.

Selena poured the liquid into the wine.

Mia felt it soon as the liquid hit the cup.

Her mark started screaming. She felt a strong warning.

The glove on her hand started smoking. The mark underneath glowed.

People started shouting, "Her hand is glowing!"

Lio yelled, "Grab her! She is using magic to fake the Luna mark!"

Guards came to take Mia away. She tried to run.

She crashed into a little boy, Rue who was crying.

A guard put a chain around her neck. She fell to the floor.

Through the noise she saw Raven standing on the platform his face cracked with an expression that looked like...

No she thought, do not look at him. Fight the pull.

Lio said, "Take her to the dungeons. The Council will try her for treason."

As they dragged her away Mia looked up at Selena. Saw the truth.

The girl who used to be her friend is gone, replaced by Luna.

Raven watched them take Mia away and something inside him broke loose.

He did not understand it. He could not stop looking at the door where she disappeared.

Selena spoke to him "Raven we have to finish the ceremony."

He looked at her. She was smiling.

He felt nothing.

As they finished the ceremony Raven looked at Lio, who was smiling at the door where Mia was taken.

Something is wrong Raven thought.

But he had to be strong so he cut off his feelings.

He let them take Mia away.

Orion found Rue crying in the alley, behind the hall.

Rue said, "Mia did not do it! Selena lied!"

Orion. He knew that Rue was telling the truth.

Orion pulled the boy into a hug, his own tears falling silently. He felt like he had failed again. He was too late to help the boy's mother. He was too late to help the boy's father.. Now he was too late to help the child he had sworn to protect the child he had promised to keep safe Mia.

It was not too late for Orion to get revenge.

"Listen to me Rue " Orion said, holding the boy’s shoulders tightly to try and snap him out of it. "Mia is strong. Mia is way stronger than she even knows. Mia will survive the cells. Mia will survive the trial. But Mia cannot do this alone, no one can."

Rue asked, "What do we do?" while wiping his nose.

Orion’s voice turned cold. "We fight. We find people who can help us. We tell everyone about Selena's lie.. We will get Mia back."

He looked up at the moon. It was cold and merciless watching over everything.

Orion whispered into the night sky "Forgive me I taught Mia how to survive.. I never taught Mia that the people you love are always the ones who hurt you the most, who cut you the deepest."

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MIA

The dungeon cell was very cold. The chains binding Mia were made of silver. The mark on Mia's hand had finally stopped hurting. The damage was already done.

Mia sat there in darkness listening to the sound of water dripping somewhere beyond the stone walls. Mia was thinking about Selena, about Selena's smile. Mia thought about Selena's hands bandaging her ribs and Selena's voice calling her "sister."

The word "sister" did not feel right; it felt bad.

Suddenly Mia heard footsteps. The cell door. Lio stood in the doorway with a bright torchlight behind him. Leo's face looked like he was sorry. It was not real.

Lio asked, "Are you comfortable?"

Mia did not say anything.

Lio said, "The Council is meeting tomorrow. They are going to say Mia has to die. Trying to kill the Alpha is a crime and it means you have to die. Unless Mia tells them who helped her, who gave her the herbs, who taught her what to do."

Mia said, "Orion did not do anything—"

Lio smiled. "Orion, thanks for telling me his name. I was going to say it but now I know for sure."

Mia's blood felt very cold. "You planned all of this, you planned everything. Selena, the herbs framing me..."

Lio said, "I planned for Selena but Mia was a surprise. You are living proof that the Ravens family's weak. You prove the moon does not like him and that the pack needs an Alpha." Lio leaned in close to Mia. "An Alpha who knows that strength is the thing that matters.. Being weak—" Leo's hand grabbed Mia's throat making it hard for Mia to breathe. "—Means you are not important."

Lio let Mia stand up and fixed his clothes.

Lio said, "Sleep little Mia. Tomorrow you die.. Your healer dies too."

The door. The lock clicked.

Mia sat alone in the da

rk, her hand hurt and her heart beating fast. Mia made a promise to herself.

Mia whispered into the dark "If I survive this I am going to make everything burn. The crown, the Council, the lies.. Selena... I am going to make Selena remember what it means to be a sister.”