The Last Moonborn: The Forgotten Heir

Chapter Eight More Than a Servant

Chapter Eight

More Than a Servant

The borrowed training clothes felt... strange.

Aveline stood in front of the mirror turning from one side to the other.

Dark trousers.

A soft cream blouse.

A fitted leather vest embroidered with a small silver raven on the collar.

Sturdy boots that actually fit.

She had never worn trousers before.

Never owned clothes made specifically for her.

She looked...

Different.

She barely recognized the young woman staring back.

A knock sounded.

"Come in."

Doctor Whitmore smiled as she entered.

"They suit you."

Aveline looked down self-consciously.

"I feel underdressed."

Whitmore laughed.

"Wait until you meet Alpha Celeste."

The training fields were already alive.

Warriors sparred beneath the early morning sun.

Others ran obstacle courses while instructors barked corrections.

The rhythmic clash of steel echoed across the valley.

Alpha Celeste stood exactly where she'd been the day before.

Hands clasped behind her back.

Watching.

Not the strongest warriors.

Not the loudest.

The ones who observed.

The ones who adapted.

Without turning around, she spoke.

"You're late."

Aveline looked horrified.

"I'm sorry!"

Celeste glanced toward the enormous clock tower overlooking the grounds.

"It is exactly six."

She smiled.

"You arrived on time."

Aveline blinked.

"You... said I was late."

"I wanted to see what your first instinct was."

Embarrassment flooded Aveline's cheeks.

"It was to apologize."

"Exactly."

Celeste began walking.

"Come."

They stopped beside an empty sparring ring.

Celeste picked up two wooden practice swords.

She tossed one toward Aveline.

It landed in the grass at her feet.

"I've never..."

"I know."

Aveline picked it up awkwardly.

"It feels heavy."

"It should."

Celeste circled her slowly.

"How much do you weigh?"

"I..."

"I don't know."

"Too little."

Celeste answered for her.

"Doctor Whitmore showed me your medical report."

Aveline lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"There it is again."

"I'm sorr—"

She stopped herself.

Celeste smiled.

"Better."

They spent the next hour doing nothing that resembled fighting.

How to stand.

How to breathe.

How to balance.

How to fall without breaking bones.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Every time Aveline stumbled...

She stood back up.

Not once did she complain.

Not once did she ask for a break.

Celeste noticed.

Interesting.

Finally...

She called a halt.

"Sit."

Aveline lowered herself onto the grass.

Sweat clung to loose strands of her auburn hair, making it glow like burnished copper beneath the morning sun.

Celeste sat beside her.

Not across from her.

Beside her.

For several moments neither woman spoke.

Then Celeste asked quietly,

"Do you know why I asked you here?"

Aveline shook her head.

"I assumed..."

She hesitated.

"You pitied me."

Celeste actually laughed.

"Aveline."

"I have commanded armies."

"I govern nearly eighty thousand wolves."

"I negotiate trade between kingdoms."

"I do not have time for pity."

Silence.

"Then..."

"Why?"

Celeste studied the training fields before answering.

"When you arrived yesterday..."

"I watched every Alpha."

"And every heir."

"And every Beta."

"I wasn't watching the spectacle."

"I was watching the people watching it."

Aveline frowned.

"I don't understand."

"You will."

Celeste smiled faintly.

"When Lady Vivienne humiliated you..."

"I watched."

"When the trunk burst open..."

"I watched."

"When she struck you..."

"I watched."

Aveline looked away.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

Celeste sighed.

"There it is again."

Aveline closed her mouth.

"I also watched everyone else."

"The nobles."

"The warriors."

"The servants."

"The Alphas."

She looked directly at Aveline.

"Do you know what every single one of them did?"

Aveline whispered,

"They watched."

"They did."

"They saw a victim."

"They saw politics."

"They saw inconvenience."

She paused.

"I saw something else."

"You never once blamed another person."

Aveline frowned.

"...It was my fault."

"No."

"It wasn't."

"You were pushed."

"You apologized anyway."

Celeste leaned forward.

"Do you know what happened after the trunk fell?"

Aveline shook her head.

"You gathered the gowns."

"You didn't check your own injuries."

"You checked the clothing."

"You worried about someone else's property while blood ran down your face."

Aveline stared at the grass.

"I ruined them."

"No."

"You believed you had."

"Those are two different things."

Celeste reached down and picked up a fallen oak leaf.

"What do you see?"

"A leaf."

"Look again."

Aveline studied it.

"It's damaged."

"Half of it is missing."

"The edges are torn."

Celeste nodded.

"Anything else?"

She looked closer.

"...It's still green."

"Exactly."

She smiled.

"Most people stop at the damage."

"I look for what's still alive."

She gently placed the leaf in Aveline's hand.

"When I looked at you..."

"I didn't see a broken omega."

"I saw discipline."

"Self-control."

"Compassion."

"Intelligence."

"You stood in a courtyard full of strangers."

"You were terrified."

"You were being beaten."

"And you still thanked the woman hurting you."

Aveline's brow furrowed.

"That isn't strength."

"No."

Celeste agreed.

"That part was survival."

She pointed gently toward Aveline's chest.

"But surviving eighteen years without allowing cruelty to make you cruel..."

"That..."

"...is extraordinary."

Aveline felt tears threaten.

"I don't feel extraordinary."

"I know."

Celeste's voice softened.

"Neither did I."

Aveline looked up.

The Alpha smiled wistfully.

"My father ruled before me."

"He wanted a son."

"When I was born..."

"The council congratulated my mother."

"...and apologized to my father."

Aveline blinked.

"They... apologized?"

"I spent my entire childhood proving that being a woman didn't make me weaker."

She looked toward the warriors.

"Every victory."

"Every battle."

"Every treaty."

"I had to earn twice."

Silence stretched comfortably between them.

"So yes..."

"I know what it's feels like when the world tells you that you are less than you should be."

Aveline looked at her hands.

"Do you really think..."

She swallowed.

"...that I could learn?"

Celeste smiled.

"I think you've already been learning."

She tapped Aveline lightly on the forehead.

"You taught yourself economics."

"Medicine."

"History."

"Politics."

"Without teachers."

"Without encouragement."

"Without anyone believing you could."

She stood.

"That tells me everything I need to know."

At the edge of the training field...

Two men watched quietly.

Rowan folded his arms.

"You planned this."

Theodore never looked away from Aveline.

"I had nothing to do with it."

"Really?"

"Celeste requested her medical file before sunrise."

Rowan raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know why."

Theo smiled faintly.

"I do."

Rowan looked toward the women.

"Enlighten me."

Theodore's silver eyes followed Aveline as she laughed—truly laughed—for what might have been the first time in years.

"Celeste isn't training my mate."

Rowan frowned.

"No?"

Theo shook his head.

"She's training a future Alpha."

The words hung in the morning air.

Not because Theodore knew who Aveline truly was.

He didn't.

But he recognized something that few leaders ever did.

Power wasn't measured by dominance.

It was measured by what remained after someone had survived every reason to become bitter...

...and still chose kindness.

Far across the training grounds, Alpha Celeste smiled to herself.

She had seen it the moment Aveline stepped out of the transport.

Not her beauty.

Not the mystery surrounding her.

Not even the unusual healing Doctor Whitmore had quietly mentioned.

She had seen a young woman who observed before she spoke, listened before she judged, and carried herself with quiet dignity despite believing she was worthless.

Those qualities could not be taught.

Everything else could.

And if Celeste Ashbourne was right...

The frightened servant everyone pitied might one day become one of the greatest leaders their world had ever known.