MOONBOUND Beauty under a curse

The walls

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*CHAPTER FIVE: THE WALLS*

Day 4. Training yard.

Snow. Stone. 20 warriors watching.

Lucian stood on the balcony above. Black coat. Arms crossed.

He hadn’t spoken to me since "eat."

_‘He’s pretending he doesn’t care,’_ Lucas whispered. _‘He’s very bad at it.’_

Commander Hale tossed me a wooden sword. It was heavy.

"Again," Hale barked.

I swung. Missed. Fell on my ass.

My scars flared. Cold. Then hot.

From above, a voice. Flat.

"Stop."

Everyone froze.

Lucian jumped down from the balcony. Didn’t use the stairs.

Landed 3 feet from me. No sound.

He didn’t offer a hand.

He just... looked.

At my shaking arms. At the bruise forming on my wrist. At my face.

"You're holding it wrong," he said.

Took the wooden sword from Hale.

Demonstrated once. Slow. His movements were perfect. Lethal. Quiet.

Then he held it out to me. Handle first.

Our fingers didn’t touch.

But for half a second, his eyes dropped to my scars.

And his jaw ticked.

_‘He noticed,’_ Lucas breathed. _‘He noticed it hurts.’_

"Again," Lucian said. Then went back to the balcony.

Didn’t watch. Or... pretended not to.

I trained for another hour.

When I finally stopped, there was a cloak on the bench.

Mine. The one from my room.

With a note tucked in the pocket. No name. Just 2 words:

*Don’t freeze.*

_‘LUCY DID THAT,’_ Lucas was practically vibrating. _‘HE REMEMBERED YOU WERE COLD!’_

I clutched the cloak. Still warm from the fire.

He didn’t talk to me.

He didn’t touch me.

But he saw me.

And for the first time in 8 years...

Someone did.

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*End of Chapter 5*

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