LOGINThe first official council meeting in the redesigned hall began without anyone taking the seat that had once stood above the rest.The old throne remained beneath the stone arch along the eastern wall, exactly where Kael had ordered it placed. It was still impressive, carved from dark wood and marked with the crest of generations of Mooncrest Alphas, but from the center of the room, it no longer looked like the heart of the hall.The circle was.A wide table had been arranged at the center, with enough space between each seat for no one to feel crowded and no one to appear more important than another. There was no raised platform beneath Kael’s chair. No separate seat for me. No place reserved for the Moon Queen.Everyone sat at the same level.I stood at the entrance for a moment, watching the representatives settle around the table, and something about the sight made my chest tighten.I had been in this hall before, back w
The throne had been moved before I woke the next morning.Not destroyed.Not hidden.Moved.Kael had arranged for several of the castle workers to carefully carry it from the center of the ceremonial hall to the far side of the room, where it now stood beneath a large stone arch.It looked strangely small from there.For years, it had been positioned at the highest point of the hall, raised above everyone who entered.Now it stood against the wall.Still impressive.Still old.Still part of Mooncrest’s history.But no longer at the center of everything.I stood in the doorway with Kael beside me.“You actually moved it.”He looked at me.“You said you wanted to change the tradition.”“I didn’t think you would do it the next morning.”“I don’t believe in delaying useful decisions.”I laughed softly.“You really
The next morning, Rowan’s proposal was the first thing discussed in the council chamber.It was not treated as an emergency.There were no raised voices or accusations, and nobody suggested that Black Hollow was trying to gain control over the territories around it.Instead, the representatives asked questions.How long would the protection agreements last?Who would decide when protection was no longer needed?Would the smaller territories be allowed to end the arrangement whenever they wanted?What would happen if Black Hollow and the protected territory disagreed?Rowan answered each question himself.“The agreement can end whenever they choose,” he said. “If they no longer want our patrols, we leave.”One of the representatives frowned.“And if you believe they are making a dangerous decision?”“Then I can tell them.”“And if they refuse to listen?”
The alliance gathering continued for most of the day. By the afternoon, the formal discussions had given way to smaller conversations between territories that had once barely trusted one another. That was something I noticed more than anything else. Nobody was being forced to agree. They were simply being given the chance to speak. Representatives moved around the circular chamber, comparing trade agreements, discussing patrol routes, and negotiating how information would be shared between territories. Some conversations were tense, but none became the kind of confrontation I had once expected whenever powerful Alphas disagreed. There was no throne at the center of the room. No single voice that everyone had to obey. Just people trying to work something out. I stayed near the edge of the chamber with Kael, watching. “You’re
The letter stayed in the wooden box beside my bed for several days.I could have placed it somewhere safer. I could have locked it away with the other important things I had collected over the years.Instead, I kept it close.Not because I was afraid of losing it, but because there was something comforting about knowing it was there.Whenever I looked at the box, I remembered the girl my mother had written about.A girl who had not yet heard the word Moon Queen.A girl who did not know about the Crown, the prophecy, the Moon Guard, or the expectations that would eventually follow her everywhere.She had simply been Liana.Sometimes I wondered what that girl would think if she could see me now.Would she recognize me?I thought she would.At least, I hoped she would.I was still the same person who loved quiet mornings and long conversations with people I trusted. I still
I thought the conversation with my mother would stay with me for a few days. Instead, it followed me everywhere. Even while I sat through council meetings, I found myself thinking about her words. Even when I walked through Mooncrest and watched people return to their ordinary lives, I remembered what she had said about teaching the next generation that their choices belonged to them. Perhaps that was why I wasn’t surprised when she came looking for me several days later. I was in the gardens behind the castle, sitting beneath the same old oak where Kael had asked me to marry him. The tree had become important to me without my ever deciding that it would. So many things had happened beneath its branches. Conversations. Arguments. Confessions. A proposal. And now, strangely enough, peace. Amara a







