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CHAPTER 82
publish date:
2026-05-04 02:16:31
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Bound by Crystals and Shadows CHAPTER 82
Corin went still. His jaw tightened, and something in his expression changed as his eyes moved over me. “And what is it that you want to do?” he asked, his voice lower now.I stepped between his knees at the edge of the bed, my heart racing though I tried not to show it. “I’ll be damned if I spend my last night of freedom doing what everyone else wants,” I said. “Tonight, I’m doing what I want.”His hands came to my hips slowly, warm and steady.“And that is?”I leaned closer until my mouth was only inches from his. “You.” For a moment, he said nothing.Then his grip tightened slightly, and a slow smile touched his mouth. “You walked in here bold,” he said quietly.“I had to,” I whispered. “If I thought about it too long, I might have lost my nerve.”That earned a low laugh from him as his hand slid up my side, sending heat across my skin. “You’re dangerous when you decide something.”“I’m learning from you.” He shook his head slightly, still smiling, then pulled me closer until I had
Bound by Crystals and Shadows CHAPTER 81
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he added. I looked back out at the trees. “I don’t think I’ve had time to decide if I like anything about this.” “That sounds about right.” Another pause settled between us, but it didn’t feel awkward. Just honest. “ Like you said, they’ve been running everything for years,” I said. “Making decisions, keeping things together. Now I just show up, and suddenly I’m supposed to take over one day. It doesn’t even make sense.” “It makes sense to them,” Corin said. “They’ve been waiting for this.” “For me?” “For what you represent.” I frowned slightly. “That’s not the same thing.” “No,” he said. “It’s not.” I leaned forward a little, resting more of my weight against the railing. “They talk like everything is already decided. Like there’s only one way this is going to go.” “That’s because for them, there usually is,” he replied. “They plan things out. They control what they can. It’s how they’ve kept Lunara stable without a ruler.”
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I paused briefly, then added, “But learning doesn’t mean losing control over my own life.”That drew a longer silence.The older woman shifted slightly, her gaze settling on me in a way that felt more focused now.“She is not wrong,” she said calmly. “A ruler who has never chosen her own path will struggle to lead others.”The man beside her didn’t immediately respond.Instead, his attention shifted back to me.“And what is it you think you are choosing now?” he asked.“I’m choosing how I go,” I said. “Not whether I go.”That was the truth of it.I didn’t have the power to refuse. Not really. Not without consequences I didn’t fully understand yet.But this... This, I could shape.“I will come to the capital,” I said clearly. “I will train. I will learn everything I need to. But I won’t do it alone. Corin and Rhys come with me.”The words settled heavily in the room.The man’s gaze flicked briefly toward Corin, then to Rhys, before returning to me.“That is not standard,” he said.“Nei
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“That is why we came.” My chest tightened slightly, but I didn’t move. His gaze held mine for a moment longer, then shifted, just slightly, like something had caught his attention beneath the surface. “And yet…” he said slowly, his voice lowering just a fraction, “there is something… unusual about it.” My breath caught. Only for a second. “What do you mean?” I asked. He didn’t answer right away. He watched me. Long enough that it felt like he was deciding something. “Nothing,” he said. But this time, It felt like a lie. Another member of the council stepped forward, breaking away from the others with a slow, deliberate movement that immediately drew attention without him needing to say a word. He was taller than the first, broader in the shoulders, his presence heavier, more commanding in a different way. His dark hair was pulled back neatly, not a strand out of place, and his jaw was sharp, set in a way that made it clear he was not someone used to being questi
Bound by Crystals and Shadows CHAPTER 78
I hadn’t even seen him approach, but suddenly he was there, close enough that I could feel the tension in him without even looking. “They’re early,” he said quietly, more to himself than to me. Another figure stepped forward from the line of guards...then another, and another. They weren’t dressed like warriors. Their clothing was darker, cleaner, marked with detail that set them apart immediately. They carried themselves differently too, not like they were here to fight, like they were here to judge. My stomach tightened slightly as their eyes moved across the space before they stopped on me, all at once. I felt it weight of their gaze, like I had just been placed under judging eyes I didn’t understand. “Corin…” I said quietly, not taking my eyes off them. He stepped forward before I could say anything else, moving just enough to place himself slightly in front of me, not blocking me completely, but enoug
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But he wasn’t moving at all. “Hey,” I called, lowering my sword just a little. “Are you...” He dropped, just like that. My breath caught as I stared at him, my chest tightening in confusion more than fear. It didn’t make sense. Nothing about it made sense. “Corin?” I said, glancing back at him. He didn’t answer. I turned fully this time, and the words caught in my throat. The courtyard was filled with guards, all of them standing still. Too still. “Corin,” I said again, quieter now, something colder creeping into my chest, but once again, no response. I took a step toward him, slowly, my heart started to beat faster as I closed the distance between us. “Corin?” Nothing. He didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t react at all. A strange feeling settled over me as I lifted my hand, hesitating for only a second before I touched his arm. His skin was cold beneath my fingers, not just cool, but wrong, like the warmth had been pulled out of him completely. My breat
Bound by Crystals and Shadows CHAPTER 33
Carefully, I reached out and pulled the book from the shelf, brushing the dust from its cover with my hand. The pages were yellowed with age, fragile but still intact, carrying knowledge that had likely been passed down for generations. There was something grounding about holding it, something th
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The forest did not feel the same anymore.The deeper Corin and I walked into the valley, the more the world around us seemed to change. At first it was subtle—small things that might have gone unnoticed if I had not already been uneasy.The wind had quieted.The insects that had hummed softly throu
Bound by Crystals and Shadows CHAPTER 8
I shot upright, my heart slamming against my ribs. For a second, I thought I’d imagined it. But then came another—shrill, desperate. The camp was in chaos. I could hear shouting, the clinking of metal, the thunder of boots pounding against the dirt. My pulse raced as fear clawed up my throa
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I sighed, trying not to roll my eyes. “ Yes, ma’am,” I muttered under my breath. Corin chuckled quietly beside me, which earned him one of Elara’s sharper looks. “ And you,” she said, pointing at him, “ should know better than to encourage her.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking almos
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