Chapter Fifteen: What You Did
1176 Words
Selene could not answer.
Lucien’s question hung between them like a blade suspended above exposed flesh.
What did I do to you?
The ruins trembled violently around them, yet suddenly none of it mattered. Not the corruption. Not the collapsing prison. Not the Devourer watching them with ancient amusement.
Only Lucien’s eyes.
Gods.
She had dreamed about this moment once.
Back when she still loved him enough to hope.
Back when she imagined him realizing the truth, regretting everything, begging for forgiveness before it was too late.
But now?
Now the question only hurt.
Because she no longer knew which version of Lucien stood before her.
The man who betrayed her?
Or the one who hadn’t done it yet?
Selene looked away first.
“I don’t have time for this.”
Lucien rose slowly to his feet.
Pain still flickered across his face from the fractured memories tearing through his mind, but his gaze never left her.
“You said I wouldn’t believe you.”
His voice sounded quieter now.
Rougher.
“Try me.”
The words nearly shattered her composure.
The Devourer laughed softly beneath the abyss.
“How beautiful,” it purred. “The king finally begins drowning in regret.”
“Silence,” Lucien snarled.
Alpha dominance exploded through the ruins again.
The prison shook violently beneath the force of his rage.
But the Devourer only smiled wider.
“You remember her screams now, don’t you?”
Lucien’s breathing became uneven instantly.
Another memory struck him without warning.
Selene kneeling beneath chains.
Blood covering white stone.
His own voice condemning her before the kingdom.
Lucien staggered sharply.
Kael watched him coldly from nearby shadows.
“No wonder you lost her.”
The sentence cut through the chamber like ice.
Lucien looked toward him slowly.
Something dangerous moved behind his silver eyes now.
“Careful.”
Kael smiled without warmth.
“Or what? You’ll execute me too?”
Selene stepped between them immediately before either king tore the prison apart themselves.
“Enough!”
Silver fire burst briefly through the chamber walls.
Everyone went still.
Selene inhaled shakily.
The pressure building inside her chest felt unbearable now.
Too many memories.
Too many truths surfacing too quickly.
She looked toward the robed figure desperately.
“There has to be another way to reseal the prison.”
The figure hesitated.
That hesitation alone terrified her.
“Tell me.”
The figure’s ancient silver eyes softened slightly.
“There was another way once.”
Hope flickered briefly inside her.
Then died instantly.
“But the second key was destroyed centuries ago.”
Kael frowned slightly.
“What second key?”
The figure turned toward him.
“The blood of the First King.”
Lucien’s expression sharpened immediately.
The Devourer laughed again.
“Oh,” it rumbled happily, “now we become honest.”
Selene’s stomach twisted painfully.
No.
No no no—
The robed figure spoke quietly.
“The First Prison was sealed using two bloodlines. Moonfire and Alpha Prime.”
Lucien froze.
Kael’s smile disappeared completely.
The implications settled heavily across the ruins.
Selene slowly turned toward Lucien.
His bloodline.
Gods.
That explained why the prison reacted to him too.
Why the ruins awakened faster when they stood together.
The Devourer’s massive silver eyes gleamed with amusement.
“The first queen and first king,” it whispered. “Bound together again after death.”
Lucien stared at Selene like he was seeing her for the first time.
Not just his future queen.
Something older.
Something tied to him long before this lifetime.
Fragments surged through his mind again.
A woman with silver eyes standing beside him beneath ancient moons.
Not Selene exactly.
And yet—
Her.
Kael suddenly cursed softly beneath his breath.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Selene noticed immediately.
“You knew,” she whispered.
Kael looked annoyed at being caught.
“I suspected.”
Lucien’s voice turned dangerously cold. “Explain.”
Kael exhaled slowly before answering.
“When I returned…” He glanced briefly toward Selene. “Certain memories remained clearer than others.”
Returned.
The word still sounded unreal.
“But one thing stayed consistent,” Kael continued quietly. “Every path led back to her.”
The Devourer hummed approvingly.
“Yes. The moon always calls its wolves home.”
Lucien ignored the creature completely.
His focus remained fixed on Kael now.
“You remember the future.”
Not a question.
Kael shrugged lightly.
“Fragments.”
Selene stared at him.
“What fragments?”
For the first time since arriving—
Kael’s expression darkened.
“I remember kingdoms burning.”
The prison went silent.
“I remember carrying your body through snow after Lucien’s empire collapsed.” His silver eyes shifted toward her carefully. “And I remember being too late.”
Selene’s chest tightened painfully.
That never happened in her memories.
Because she died before the northern war truly began.
Meaning—
Kael came from a different ending.
The realization horrified her.
The timelines weren’t identical.
They were splintering.
The robed figure suddenly looked alarmed.
“That’s impossible.”
Kael glanced toward it coldly. “And yet here we are.”
The Devourer seemed delighted by this revelation.
“Multiple threads returning at once…” it whispered. “How catastrophic.”
Lucien rubbed a hand across his face slowly.
His thoughts felt fractured beyond repair.
Selene executed.
Kael carrying her corpse.
Ancient prisons.
Past lives.
None of it made sense.
And yet his instincts screamed that every word was true.
He looked toward Selene again.
This time his voice sounded almost human.
“Did I really let them kill you?”
The question broke something inside her.
Because he looked horrified already.
And he didn’t even remember everything yet.
Selene swallowed painfully.
“Yes.”
The single word destroyed the remaining silence.
Lucien closed his eyes briefly.
Another memory surfaced instantly.
Selene staring at him from the execution platform.
Not angry.
Heartbroken.
Gods—
He remembered that expression.
Lucien inhaled sharply like someone stabbed him directly through the chest.
Kael watched him without pity.
“You don’t deserve her forgiveness.”
Selene immediately looked toward Kael sharply.
“I never asked for anyone’s opinion.”
The northern king blinked once.
Then slowly smiled.
There she was.
Fire.
Darkness.
The woman who came back from death sharper than broken glass.
Gods, she fascinated him.
The Devourer suddenly lifted its massive head higher.
Its amusement vanished.
“The corruption spreads faster.”
Black mist surged violently through the broken prison again.
This time it carried screams from above.
The capital.
People were dying already.
Selene’s expression hardened instantly.
Enough.
Whatever emotions threatened to consume her would wait.
The kingdom came first.
Again.
Always again.
She looked directly at Lucien.
“If we’re going to survive this, you need to decide something quickly.”
Lucien met her gaze.
“What?”
Selene’s silver eyes glowed faintly beneath the darkness.
“Do you trust me?”
The question hit harder than any blade.
Because despite everything—
Lucien realized the answer was still yes.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD