The Man I Remembered
1403 Words
"You remember me now."
The words echoed through the night.
Through the battle.
Through the screams.
Through the chaos consuming the palace.
I couldn't breathe.
My heart pounded so violently that it hurt.
Because part of me knew he was right.
And that terrified me.
Lucien stood motionless beneath the moonlight.
Waiting.
Watching.
Patient.
As though he had waited centuries for this moment.
Perhaps he had.
The thought sent a chill down my spine.
"No."
The denial left my lips automatically.
Instinctively.
Desperately.
Because the alternative was impossible.
Lucien's expression softened.
"You do."
I shook my head.
Again.
Harder.
"I don't know you."
The words sounded weak.
Even to me.
Because the memories wouldn't stop.
Fragments flashed through my mind.
Moonlight.
Laughter.
Silver eyes.
A hand reaching for mine.
A voice whispering promises.
A feeling of safety.
A feeling of home.
My knees nearly buckled.
Kael immediately stepped closer.
His hand settled against my arm.
Steady.
Grounding.
Real.
The contact helped.
For a moment.
Then another memory surfaced.
A garden.
White flowers.
A silver fountain.
Lucien smiling.
Not the weary man standing before me now.
A younger version.
Happy.
Alive.
Loved.
The vision vanished.
Leaving me trembling.
The silence on the balcony became unbearable.
Every warrior watched.
Every servant nearby had frozen.
Nobody moved.
Nobody dared interrupt.
Because somehow everyone understood.
Something important was happening.
Something historic.
Something dangerous.
Lucien finally broke the silence.
"You remember pieces."
I hated that he was right.
Because he was.
Tiny pieces.
Scattered fragments.
Broken memories that didn't belong to me.
Yet somehow felt more real than my own.
Kael's jaw tightened.
"Enough."
The single word carried a warning.
Lucien looked at him calmly.
"You can't protect her from the truth forever."
The statement hit harder than it should have.
Because deep down...
I was beginning to suspect that Kael had been doing exactly that.
Protecting me from the truth.
Protecting me from myself.
The realization hurt.
Not because I was angry.
Because I understood why.
Whatever happened five hundred years ago...
Everyone seemed afraid of it.
Everyone.
Including Kael.
A deafening explosion interrupted the moment.
The entire balcony shook violently.
Stone cracked beneath our feet.
Screams erupted below.
Reality returned.
The hunters.
The attack.
The danger.
The battle wasn't waiting for my identity crisis.
A bloodied warrior burst onto the balcony.
His face was pale.
Terrified.
"Your Majesty!"
Kael turned instantly.
"What happened?"
The warrior swallowed.
"They've breached the inner wall."
The warrior looked exhausted.
Blood covered one side of his face.
A deep cut stretched across his shoulder.
For a moment, I couldn't stop staring at it.
Because it made everything real.
This wasn't a vision.
This wasn't ancient history.
People were bleeding.
Dying.
Right now.
For me.
The realization hit harder than any memory ever could.
Guilt twisted inside my chest.
"If I wasn't here..."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew I was right.
The attack wasn't about territory.
It wasn't about politics.
It wasn't even about Kael.
It was about me.
Ava Ashbourne.
Or whoever I really was.
Kael immediately looked at me.
"Don't."
The command was sharp.
Instant.
I frowned.
"People are dying."
His silver eyes hardened.
"Because someone chose violence."
The response stunned me.
For a moment, neither of us looked away.
Kael took a step closer.
His voice lowered.
"Their choices are not your responsibility."
The conviction in his tone surprised me.
Because he actually believed it.
Every word.
Every syllable.
The realization sent a strange warmth through my chest.
Dangerous warmth.
The kind I shouldn't have been feeling in the middle of a battle.
The kind that made me forget, for a split second, that the palace was under attack.
Then another explosion rocked the structure.
The floor trembled.
Dust drifted from the ceiling above.
Reality returned immediately.
The warrior swallowed.
"There is more."
Kael's expression darkened.
"What now?"
The warrior hesitated.
Fear flashed across his face.
Real fear.
Not fear of failure.
Not fear of punishment.
Fear of what he was about to say.
"The hunters aren't attacking randomly."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Lucien became still.
Very still.
The kind of stillness predators possessed before striking.
Kael noticed too.
"What are they targeting?"
The warrior's voice dropped.
"The archives."
Silence.
Then:
"The royal chambers."
Another pause.
Then the final blow.
"And Ava."
My stomach dropped.
The warrior lowered his gaze.
"They know exactly where she is."
Ice flooded my veins.
That was impossible.
Wasn't it?
The palace was enormous.
Protected.
Fortified.
How could they know where I was?
The question must have shown on my face.
Because Lucien's expression became grim.
"Because someone told them."
Nobody spoke.
Nobody needed to.
The implication was obvious.
There was a traitor.
Inside the palace.
The realization sent a chill down my spine.
The enemy wasn't only outside the walls.
The enemy was already inside them.
Kael's grip tightened around his sword.
His eyes flashed silver.
Dangerously bright.
"Find them."
The order carried absolute authority.
Every warrior immediately straightened.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Then they were gone.
Leaving only silence behind.
Silence.
And the terrifying realization that somewhere within the palace...
Someone was waiting for me to die.
The realization settled over the balcony like ice.
A traitor.
Not somewhere beyond the palace walls.
Not hidden among the enemy.
Inside.
Walking the same hallways.
Breathing the same air.
Listening to the same conversations.
A shiver ran down my spine.
For the first time since arriving at the palace, I felt truly vulnerable.
Because walls could keep enemies out.
But they couldn't protect you from someone already inside.
Kael seemed to sense my fear immediately.
His body shifted subtly.
Positioning himself between me and everyone else.
Including the remaining warriors.
The protective gesture shouldn't have affected me.
Yet it did.
More than I wanted to admit.
Lucien noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His expression darkened for a brief moment.
Then it vanished.
Gone so quickly I almost missed it.
Almost.
The tension between the two men thickened.
Ancient.
Complicated.
Dangerous.
As though they were fighting a battle neither of them intended to explain.
Then a cold wind swept across the balcony.
The silver energy beneath my skin stirred violently.
Not with fear.
Recognition.
Something was coming.
Something powerful.
Something that made even the Lunar Queen's power inside me react.
And judging by the sudden look on Lucien's face...
He felt it too.
Silence.
Then:
"The Ash Hunters are heading for the royal wing."
My blood turned cold.
They were coming here.
Coming for me.
The realization finally became real.
Not a rumor.
Not a prophecy.
Not a distant threat.
Real.
Immediate.
Deadly.
Kael's expression hardened.
"Evacuate her."
The command came instantly.
Several warriors stepped forward.
Lucien laughed.
The sound froze everyone.
"You're too late."
The words settled over the balcony like ice.
Kael's silver eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
His gaze shifted toward me.
Then toward the palace below.
Then back toward the moon.
As though listening to something nobody else could hear.
When he finally spoke...
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"They're not here for the Lunar Queen."
Every instinct inside me screamed.
Run.
The warrior looked confused.
"What?"
Lucien's expression became grim.
"They already know."
The world seemed to stop.
My pulse thundered.
Know what?
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
Then Lucien looked directly at me.
And for the first time all night...
I saw fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
Ancient fear.
The kind fear that only appears when something far worse than death is approaching.
"The person who betrayed Selene..."
My blood turned to ice.
"...is still alive."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every sound disappeared.
Every thought vanished.
Because there was only one impossible question left.
How?
How could someone survive five hundred years?
Lucien's face darkened.
As though he already knew exactly what I was thinking.
Then he delivered the final blow.
"And he knows you've awakened."
The balcony shook again.
A terrible roar echoed across the night.
Not wolf.
Not Lycan.
Something older.
Something unnatural.
Something that should not exist.
Every warrior on the balcony turned toward the eastern sky.
Fear spread across their faces.
One by one.
Even Kael.
Slowly...
I turned too.
And in the distance...
Beyond the burning walls of the palace...
A pair of glowing golden eyes opened in the darkness.
Watching me.
Waiting.
Remembering.
And somehow...
I knew those eyes.
- Writer
