Chapter Seventeen
The halls whisper now
They used to breathe life–echoes of laughter, the pitter–patter of feet, Selene’s humming as she moved through the day. But now now the silence has weight. It clings to me, cold and damp, like a shroud
I sit alone in the Luna’s study, though I’ve never called it that since Selene left. Since I buried her. No since I let them bury her. Alive. My hands are shaking, the tumbler of whiskey untouched in my palm. The fire crackles, but it doesn’t warm me. Nothing does anymore. They’re acting strange–my children. My boys My Elara
There’s a lightness around their eyes, the kind of thing you only notice when you’ve known someone since the moment they y took their first breath. Elara won’t meet my gaze. Calix flinches when I touch his shoulder, Ryker is always watching me, like he expects me to break.k
Maybe I already have. The quilt’s been growing like rot beneath my skin. For weeks now. Since the moment I looked into Liora’s eyes and realized there was no warmth theme–only reflection. She’s like a mirror, isn’t she? A mimic of what love is supposed to be… Selene never had to try. She just loved And I let her die
The pendant around my neck–the Luna’s pendant–glows faintly against my chest, like it knows it doesn’t belong here. It was forged to honor love and truth. Fremember the way it burned against Selene’s skin whenever someone lied in her presence. She wore it like a second heart. I should’ve known
But I was too tired. Too angry. Too lost
Temember the night Lion came to us.
Griet had hollowed me out. The children needed someone–anyone. She was soft–spoken, helpful. She didn’t flinch when Calix bit her the first time of when Blora cried through the night. She told me she’d lost someone too. She said she understood.
And I believed her Because it was easier to believe than to face the truth–that I’d driven away the woman who built this home with her blood, her sweat, her joy.!!
Selene’s room is still locked.I haven’t been in there since the night I told her to leave. The night I said she was unstable, dangerous, a liar. Her eyes… God, her eyes. They didn’t rage. They didn’t plead. They just died Quietly.
And she walked away. I don’t remember what Liora told me to make it all seem reasonable. Something about Selene pushing her down the stairs About jealousy. About paranoia.
It all fit so neatly Too neatly R
My fists clench against the edge of the chair. The pendant warms against my chest again, and I finally understand–it’s not burning me. It’s mourning her A knock at the door I don’t answer!!
“Dad?
It’s Ryker. My son. My boy who used to curl against Selene’s side like he belonged there.X
“Come in,” I rasp, though my throat is raw from silence.
He steps inside slowly, followed by Calix and Elara. Their faces are pale, eyes wide. They look like ghosts.
Something’s wrong.
“What happened?“%
Elora’s lip trembles. She opens her mouth, closes it. Calix takes her hand, Ryker stages straight ahead.
“I think it’s time we talk,” he says, voice tight.
No I feel it before they say it. The shift. The unraveling.
“We saw something.” Calix says quietly. “In the woods. Elara she heard Liora. With someone.”
My chest goes still. “With someone?“%
Ryker’s jaw lightens. “She’s been lying to you. To all of us.”
1- Clara tries, but the words come out as sobs. “I thought she loved us. I thought she wanted to protect us. But she… she said awful things. About you. About the baby. About Selene,
I can’t breathe. They’re all talking at once now–fragments, gasps, broken pieces of the truth I’ve been too blind to see. Liora with another man Liora planning my death Liora mocking Selene’s memory. The pregnancy–not mine
I stand My legs almost give out. The room tilts X
“You’re telling me. My voice is a whisper “She killed Selene?”
“No, Elara sobs. “We did.“%
My eyes snap to herk
“We believed her,” she chokes out “We hated Selene because of what Liora told us. That she hurt our real mother. That she didn’t care about us. But it wasn’t true. None of it was true.
Ryker’s voice is steel and sorrow. “She loved us, Dad. She never stopped. I saw her room. She had drawings of us on the wall, A message The ones I love dearly” She kept it, even when we stopped calling her Mom ”
I drop to my knees The world is crashing down, Crumbling I feel like a man standing on
the ashes of everything he built with his own
She begged me” I whisper. “She tried to explain. I told her to leave. L
11 01 AM
hands,
my kiers, the wunu is crassing vomi vrumumny i leer the dinin sonuniy unine dança un mormylimy ne dum minino UMI
“She begged me,” I whisper. “She tried to explain. I told her to leave L2
Calix kneels beside me, tears falling freely. “We have to make it night.”
“How?” I ask, voice hollow. “How do you bring someone back from the grave?”
Ryker looks up. His eyes–so like hers–blaze with something fierce.
“She’s not dead. Not yet.”
My heart stutters.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how. But I know she’s out there. And we’re going to find her. We have to
Elara clutches my sleeve like she used to when she was small and afraid of storms.
“Daddy” she whispers. “I’m sorry. We’re all so sorry. Please… bring her home.”
Tears burn down my cheeks. I press my hand over the pendant at my chest. It pulses.A flicker of hope.
Maybe the goddess isn’t done with us yet Maybe Selene is still out there–hurting, healing, waiting And if she is
I’ll bring her back.I swear it on every broken piece of my soul.
