The Moonstone Answers

Chapter 12

Silver light exploded through the temple.

Elara jerked backward, but the Moonstone held her palm against its surface.

"Elara!"

Mira pushed through the servants' section.

A guard caught her before she reached the dais.

"Let me go!"

"Stay back!"

"She's my friend!"

"Move away from the stone!" the priest shouted.

"I can't!" Elara cried. "My hand won't move!"

Silver light raced beneath her skin.

It didn't burn.

It felt stranger than pain.

Like something buried deep inside her had suddenly opened its eyes.

Then she heard a voice.

Elara.

Her breath caught.

"Who said that?"

Mira stared at her.

"Nobody."

"I heard someone."

The Moonstone pulsed.

A shockwave rolled across the chamber.

Candles went out.

Several nobles screamed.

"Get her away from it!"

"She's destroying the temple!"

"Call the guards!"

"Enough!"

Kael's voice silenced everyone.

He stepped toward the dais.

"Nobody touches her."

The priest stared at him.

"Your Majesty, the stone is reacting to her!"

"I can see that."

"Then she must be removed!"

"How?"

The priest opened his mouth.

No answer came.

Elara pulled against the Moonstone again.

Nothing.

"Kael!"

His eyes snapped toward her.

"Get me out of this!"

"I'm trying."

"Then try harder!"

Kael moved closer.

"Don't fight the stone."

"What?"

"Stop pulling."

"I can't exactly relax while I'm trapped to it!"

"Elara, listen to me."

She glared at him.

"I'm listening."

"Whatever happens next, don't panic."

Her eyes widened.

"That is not reassuring."

"I know."

The Moonstone pulsed again.

A silver crack appeared across its surface.

The crowd gasped.

"What is that?" someone whispered.

Another crack formed.

Then another.

The priest stumbled backward.

"No..."

An elderly councilwoman stepped toward the dais.

"Stop the ceremony."

Kael turned.

"It's already stopped."

"No. I mean stop this."

Her eyes remained fixed on Elara.

"She should never have been permitted to touch the Moonstone."

Elara heard her.

"So that's the problem?"

The woman looked at her.

"You are not meant to be here."

"I was registered as a candidate."

"You are wolfless."

The word echoed through the temple.

Elara's jaw tightened.

"I know."

"You have no wolf."

"I know."

"Then the Moonstone should have nothing to answer."

Elara looked at the glowing stone.

"Yet it is answering."

The elder's face tightened.

"That is precisely why you are dangerous."

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Dangerous."

The word sounded different from wolfless.

The first had made people pity her.

The second made them afraid.

Elara looked at Kael.

"You knew something like this could happen."

"No."

"You looked afraid before I touched it."

Kael didn't answer.

"You knew."

"I suspected something was wrong."

"With me?"

"With the records surrounding your family."

Elara's heart skipped.

"My family?"

The councilwoman stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, this conversation should not happen here."

Elara turned toward her.

"Why?"

"Because you don't understand what you're asking."

"Then explain it."

The woman went silent.

Elara gave a bitter laugh.

"That's what everyone keeps saying."

She looked around the temple.

"My entire life, everyone has known something about me that I wasn't allowed to know."

The silver light brightened.

"Everyone called me broken."

The Moonstone pulsed.

"Wolfless."

Another pulse.

"The traitor's daughter."

The silver cracks spread farther.

Elara looked at her glowing hand.

"And now you're afraid."

Nobody answered.

"Why?"

The Moonstone suddenly released her.

Elara stumbled.

Mira broke free from the guard and rushed forward.

"Elara!"

She caught her around the shoulders.

"Are you hurt?"

"I don't know."

"Your hand."

Elara looked down.

A thin silver line was moving across her palm.

Mira's face went pale.

"Elara..."

"What?"

"Your hand."

The line curved.

Another joined it.

Within seconds, an ancient symbol appeared on her skin.

The temple fell silent.

Kael went completely still.

The priest whispered, "Impossible."

Elara lifted her palm.

"You recognize it."

Kael didn't answer.

"Kael."

His gaze remained fixed on the mark.

"You recognize it."

"I've seen it before."

"Where?"

"The royal archives."

Elara's stomach tightened.

"The sealed records?"

Kael's eyes lifted.

"Who told you about those?"

"I found my father's records."

"Where?"

"The palace archive."

"Those records were sealed."

"I know."

"Then you shouldn't have been able to see them."

Elara stepped closer.

"Neither should my mother have known about the Moonstone."

Kael froze.

Mira looked between them.

"Your mother?"

Elara touched the hidden letter beneath her dress.

"She left me a letter."

Kael's expression changed.

"What did it say?"

"That the Moonstone would awaken."

His face hardened.

"When?"

"Fifteen years ago."

The color drained from Kael's face.

Elara noticed.

"You know something."

"Elara"

"You know something about my mother."

"I didn't know her."

"But you know what she knew."

Kael looked toward the elders.

"Not here."

"I'm tired of hearing that."

"Then you're going to have to trust me."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you keep asking these questions in front of this court, they will turn your questions into an accusation."

The councilwoman stepped forward.

"Your Majesty"

Kael raised one hand.

She stopped.

Elara stared at him.

"Who are they?"

Kael's eyes hardened.

"The people who have spent fifteen years making sure certain questions were never asked."

Silence fell.

Then

BOOM!

The temple doors slammed shut.

Everyone turned.

Guards rushed toward them.

"Open the doors!"

"They won't move!"

"Try again!"

The guards pushed against the massive doors.

Nothing.

The priest began whispering a prayer.

Elara suddenly heard the voice again.

Find the First Blood.

She stiffened.

Mira noticed.

"What?"

Elara looked at Kael.

"The voice."

"What voice?"

"The one from the Moonstone."

Kael's expression changed.

"What did it say?"

Elara swallowed.

"It told me to find the First Blood."

Every elder in the temple went silent.

Kael's face lost its color.

The councilwoman whispered, "No."

Elara turned toward her.

"You know those words."

Nobody answered.

She looked at Kael.

"You know them too."

Kael stared at the mark on her palm.

"Where did you hear that phrase?"

"I told you. The Moonstone."

"Exactly what did it say?"

"Find the First Blood."

He took a slow breath.

"Don't repeat those words again."

"Why?"

"Because you don't know what they mean."

"Then tell me."

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

Kael's jaw tightened.

"Elara."

"No."

She stepped closer.

"You don't get to tell me to stay quiet after what just happened."

The mark on her palm began glowing again.

Kael's eyes widened.

"Don't move."

"Why?"

"Your hand."

Elara looked down.

The symbol was shining brighter.

The Moonstone answered.

One pulse.

Then another.

A deep crack split across its surface.

The temple shook.

People screamed.

The priest dropped to his knees.

"What have we awakened?"

Kael stared at the stone.

His voice was barely audible.

"They said the First Blood was gone."

Elara's heart stopped.

"Who said that?"

Kael looked at her.

For the first time, he didn't look like a king.

He looked like a man who had just discovered that something he believed was dead had never truly been gone.

"Everyone who knew the truth."

"Kael..."

The Moonstone cracked again.

A piece of ancient stone fell from the dais.

Behind it, something was revealed.

A hidden inscription.

Elara stepped toward it.

The letters glowed silver.

Kael caught her wrist.

"Don't."

She looked at his hand.

Then at him.

"Why?"

His eyes locked onto hers.

"Because if that inscription says what I think it says..."

He stopped.

"What?"

Kael looked toward the elders.

Every one of them had gone pale.

Elara pulled her wrist free.

"What does it say?"

No one answered.

She stepped closer to the hidden inscription.

The silver letters brightened.

One by one, they became readable.

WHEN THE FIRST BLOOD RETURNS, THE VEYNE HEIR SHALL AWAKEN.

Elara stopped breathing.

Mira whispered, "Veyne heir?"

Kael closed his eyes for one second.

Then opened them.

Elara turned toward him.

"You knew."

"I suspected."

"You knew."

"I didn't know you were the one."

"The one what?"

Kael didn't answer.

"Kael."

He looked at her.

Something in his expression had changed.

Not fear this time.

Recognition.

The Moonstone gave a final, deafening crack.

The entire temple shook.

Elara looked back at the inscription.

The silver letters began changing.

A second line slowly appeared beneath the first.

Kael's face went pale.

"Everyone back."

Elara stared at him.

"What does it say?"

He didn't answer.

The second line finished forming.

AND THE KING SHALL CHOOSE WHETHER SHE LIVES.

Elara's blood ran cold.

She looked at Kael.

He was already staring at her.

Neither spoke.

Around them, the elders remained frozen.

Mira whispered her name.

"Elara..."

But Elara barely heard her.

Because for the first time, she understood something terrifying.

Whatever her mother had hidden fifteen years ago...

it wasn't only about her.

It was about the king.

And somehow, her life now rested in his hands.