Chapter Six
D
The sword came down in a silver are
I remember the sound it made–sharp, wrong. It wasn’t supposed to sound like that. The scrape of metal on stone. The whistle of fury through air it was too much like a scream
She rolled Not like a fighter Not like a threat She rolled like prey
דווין
Ryker missed by inches. His curse was immediate, sharp with disbelief. I surged forward, fury tightening my chest. My boot slammed. into damp earth as I chased her, my name leaping from my own mouth before I could stop it “Selene!”
She didn’t look back.
The temple warped around her fleeing figure, the torchlight flickering like it was ashamed. Briars tore at her. She was bleeding. I saw that I didn’t stop
Ryker bellowed behind me. Ronan shouted orders. I should’ve caught her
But she vanished into the old wall like smoke Gone.
The courtyard was too quiet, The kind of quiet that presses on your ears and makes your heartbeat feel like betrayal.
Ronan amved minutes later, his eyes already searching the damage Rubble. Uprooted herbs Blood smeared on the stone path. The scent of lavender lingered like an apology.
“Where is she?” he asked.
I didn’t answer Neither did Ryker
“Where is Shel
“She escaped, I finally said. The words tasted like ash%
Ronan’s jaw clenched “You let her?”
“She ran,” Ryker snapped. “You think we let her?
He looked at me Just for a second.
“Tell me she fought like a traitor.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
“She ran” I repeated, softer this time.X
Because that’s all she did. She ran like a girl who still believed in her own life.
Later, when the courtyard cleared and the smoke drifted into sky, I stayed.
I should’ve followed Dad R
Should’ve stood beside Ryker as he cursed the moon and sharpened his blade again X
But I didn’t!
Instead, I stood at the edge of the garden and stared at the crushed patch of violets where she’d fallen. There was blood there. Not a lot Just enough to remind me she’d been real X
I hated her Didn’t I?My fingers curled into fists. I told myself again–Liora said Selene had poisoned our father’s mind. That she seduced power. Manipulated loyalty
That she let our mother die. That she wanted Ronan for herself All lies that had wom truth’s skin. But tonight…
Tonight she hadn’t cursed us She hadn’t even fought She’d just… nun
A flicker of memory came, uninvited.
I was a boy again, maybe six. After my mother died.X
was crying in the hallway, my fists too small to hold anything but grief, Selane found me. Her hair was a mess. She looked like she hadn’t slept
She knelt. Just wrapped her arms around me, silent, firm. I sobbed into her shoulder. She didn’t say you’ll be fine or be strong. She just held me until the ache dulled.
Back then, I thought she was our big sister. But looking at her now through memory’s stained glass, I realize she was our mother Mare mother than Lyra ever stayed to be More mother than Liora ever tried to be.
Ryker’s voice pulled me back
“I sent scouts through the east ridge. She knew that funnel“:
“Hope you did not kill her? Ronan asked I
Nope but soon” Ryker promised
11.00 AM c c
I didn’t speak. Because I wasn’t sure anymore Wasn’t sure if we were wrong or night.
Wasn’t sure if the whole damn thing–our holy judgment, our righteous fury–wasn’t just theater. A well–lit lie. My mouth felt dry. My heart louder than it should’ve been.))
Liora arrived mid–aftemoon
Swathed in silk. Her belly round with promise. Her eyes lined with tears that never quite fell
“My love,” she breathed, stumbling into Ronan’s arms like the world was ending.
He caught her. Of course he did.
“I feared she’d harm you “X
Ronan didn’t speak, only buried his face in her hair
She kissed him. Deliberate Public
My siblings and I stood silently, watching Ryker wore his usual scowl. Elara blinked once, slowly But I saw it
A flicker)
Liora tumed slightly–enough that she thought we couldn’t see–but her lips curled. Brief. Barely there. But unmistakable
A smile. Triumph.
I looked at Elam She looked back at me. Didn’t say a word But we both saw it
that night. I couldn’t sleep 1 lay in my chamber, staring at the ceiling, haunted by a single question.
I I
What if she wasn’t the villain?What if she was the sacrifice?
It was nearly dawn when I walked past her quarters,H
Selene’s door stood open, Liora was there, directing servants N
“Everything must go,” she said crisply. “The scent lingers.”
I linens. The bed was stripped. The small glass vial of
A maid nodded and continued emptying drawers. Another carried out armfuls of linens.
moon oil gone from the nightstand X
I stood outside the doorway, unseen. My feet didn’t move. Because I saw the wall,X
And on that wall–the mark Selene made when we were younger. A tiny etching with a blade, hidden behind her dresser
it read For the ones I love
Flashback
Elara was sick. Barely five. Fever burning her small body like fire I had run to find Selene.
She was already there, holding Elara against her chest, humming something low. Sweat slicked her neck, her eyes red with exhaustion.
“You haven’t slept” I said.
She smiled at me, wan and quiet “Elara is your sister. But she’s my daughter I take care of my own.”
Now, as I stood in the doorway. I almost said her name. Almost stepped inside X
Almost pulled the mark off the wall and claimed it for myself.
But I didn’t I turned away Maybe she deserved it Maybe she didn’t. Maybe we hurt an innocent person. And maybe we’ll never stop lying to ourselves about which one is true
11:00 AM & c
POV: Ronan
I stood at the threshold, unseen.
