•Chapter 26•

Pinakabagong kabanata

• The Stand-In Luna   Chapter 101

  Ashley I froze where I stood. My legs turned to roots, joined to the ground, and unable to move as I continued to watch Zane and Zanzi's conversation from a safe distance. “I don't understand, what do you mean Zanzi?” His shoulders became a little squarer, and his voice found a low, almost menacing timbre. “I'm sure you heard me exactly, Zane. I'm saying that your wife has a lot of mystery surrounding her and I don't think you've done the right thing my marrying a woman whose bloodline you can't even trace. All the important questions that someone can ask about her just seems so pit of reach. Didn't you ever think about it, Zane? Or did she somehow brainwash you to that point?” “I don't appreciate these conjectures you're making, Zanzi. If you don't have anything good to say, then I do think that you should just leave me be. Every since you cane here you've been taunting Ashley at every point. I meed you to stop it.” “I'm not going to stop searching for the truth, Zane. And neit

• The Stand-In Luna   •Chapter 100•

  Ashley I squeezed the paper coated in ink and prophecy in my palm, wishing it could burn to ash and be dispelled by the wind. There were too many things going through my mind at that moment. Alicia knew Elena. Had practically raised her as her own child, and somehow, I had also found my way to her. What were the odds of such a thing happening? Was thw world really thar small? “Do you know where Luna Elena is?” I finally asked, keeping my gaze trained on the floor. I didn't really know how to feel. Sadness and angst had both made a home in my heart at Alicia's confession and I didn't exactly know how to feel about it all. She shook her head. “No, I don't. And maybe it's for the best. I don't trust myself to leave things well enough alone if I had found at some point. I also have questions I want her to answer, you know. I spent years trying to understand why she did the things she did. And why she decided to turn against us, choosing to support her husband's warped ideals and plans

• The Stand-In Luna   •Chapter 99•

  Ashley In the wee hours of the morning the following day, I quietly slipped out of bed while Zane still slept, quickly dressed, and left to see Alicia. She was going to be surprised at my visit, but I had come up with a plan so suddenly that even I myself didn't know I was going to be doing certain things until I found myself doing them. Alicia was my first target because she mentioned once that she came from a bloodline of people who practiced the mystic arts. Tarot reading, Palm reading, and even seeing visions were things that people from her family had experienced at one point in time. It was what made her reputation as a healer even more powerful. She was respected because she came from a long line of spiritually enlightened people, who were considered to be blessed by the Goddess herself. I didn't know exactly if she was going to have the answers I was seeking, but she might have been able to point me in the right direction. As I anticipated, she was already at the Sacred G

• The Stand-In Luna   •Chapter 98•

  Ashley Our visitors returned home bidding us farewell and giving their best wishes to last us until their next visit. But Zanzi stayed behind, stating that she had some ‘business’ to attend to. It was like she had come to torment me, because I saw no other reason why she refused to return home to her family. As for her background, she came from the illustrious Veranadi family, one of the initial seven Great Families. They weren't often in the spotlight like the others, but their influence and power ran deeper than many could see or even dream to touch. Their family dealt with the things others couldn't be bothered with, often interfering only when matters in the territory had gone out of hand. It was said that if they were involved in a case, then it meant that things were indeed serious.I wasn't exactly happy to have her around, but I had to be a good host. It didn't help that she decided to attach herself to me like some parasite, trying to pry into things that didn't concern h

• The Stand-In Luna   •Chapter 97•

  Ashley The paper shook in my hands as I read the words over and over again. I would know those words anywhere. After all, it was all I knew about for the past decade. Every morning, afternoon and night had been plagued with reminders of the great prophecy. The same prophecy that had set this whole course of events in motion. The very reason behind why I was so brutally mistreated.The first sentence, I knew of. But the second one appeared unfamiliar. I wasn't sure I'd seen it before. Was it by any chance the remaining portion of the prophecy that Luna Elena had obsessed about for years before her disappearance? “A new king rises upon the land, and the Luna becomes the Goddess,” I read undee my breath, trying to make sense of it all. I couldn't find any sense in the order of the words, but maybe it was because I stood in a place filled with distracting music.Someone touched my shoulders and I jumped, turning around as I folded the paper up into my palm and put my hands behind my ba

• The Stand-In Luna   •Chapter 96•

  Ashley She spoke to Zane with so much familiarity. Had theybeen merely friends, or something more? The way she communicated woth him kept throwing me off, and I didn't know of I even still had any balance or footing at all. But Zane seemed very comfortable with her behaviour. In fact, one could almost say that he had expected her to say such things. He didn't bother to give her an answer, but the cold look in his eyes was warning enough for anyone.The others behind her fanned out, as though her words had stirred something in them. Before, they had been so quiet, merely additions to the background, but at that moment, they too had picked up an interest in me.A tall man, the tallest of the group, walked up to me and took my hand in his without warning, kissing it almost sensually. “My, my, what a lovely creature you are,” he drawled in a unique accent that made his words slightly roll into each other. He was incredibly handsome, with thick, lashes, tanned skin, and dimples on his c