The flames crackled gently at the center of the courtyard where Emereah's new kingdom stirred and revived.The warmth was insufficient, however, to thaw the cold that preceded Vladimir wherever he went.Eyes watched him—accusing, suspicious, burning with anger that had seethed for too long in silence.Whispers, keen as knives, cut through the air."He doesn't belong here.""He should be in chains, not walking among us.""Half my family died the night his soldiers came…"All of it Vladimir heard.Each word.He spoke not a word.He did not flinch. Did not avert his eyes. He merely walked the perimeter of the fire ring like a ghost with too much blood in its memory.Children were drawn near their mothers as he walked. Warriors bristled. Elders glared with narrowed eyes, pinched lips. A man—scars across his face, his hand trembling—stepped forward, spitting on the ground in front of Vladimir's feet."That's for my brother," he growled.Another burst from the crowd, rage bursting from his
The moon had moved lower in the sky, its silver falling across the camp where campfires still smoldered low. The naming ceremony was over, but its reverberations persisted—like soothings on the skin, like embers in the lungs.Emereah had gone inside to the inner sanctum with Lunareth sleeping beside her. Peace, for the first time in years, had grazed her brow.Yet peace, Vera knew, was ever temporary.She stood outside the holy tent, hands clasped tight against her chest, observing Vladimir pace in darkness like a wolf tied to its post. He'd not asked to be let in. Hadn't insisted on gazing at the child once more. And that, above all, disturbed her."You believe kneeling will alter what you did?" she said, not attempting to mollify her voice.Vladimir halted. His gaze shifted toward her, eyes still smoldering with the rituals. "No. I don't.""Good," she snapped. "Because it doesn't. You slaughtered her folk. You reduced our cities to ash. You branded a woman you sought to annihilate."
But Lunareth did not step back.She moved forward.She sang.A tune older than time—learned from her mother, passed through bloodlines, etched into soul. A hymn not of devestation, but of mending. Of flame renewed.The beast stumbled.It shrieked—and disintegrated into a thousand embers.The Elders knelt on the ground, crying.And Lunareth alone stood on the cliff's edge.A queen. A savior. A daughter of vengeance and love.Behind the grove…Emereah gasped, her frame shaking as she came back to the real world. Vera was already holding her up, supporting her. "What did you see?" she whispered.Emereah struggled to speak. Her face ran with tears. "I saw her… grown. A storm and a sun. I saw what she will become."Rhovan, who had fallen to his knees beside her, stretched out his hand to the child, who murmured contentedly in sleep."She saves them," Emereah breathed. "Even the ones who cursed her."Vera's eyes clouded. "And what of the darkness? Did it return?""Yes," Emereah said, her ha
But as something else—something older, something chastened. He moved toward Emereah slowly, and the whole circle watched as he knelt again—not before the flame, not before the child—but before her."I was wrong," he said. "About everything. About control. About prophecy. You were never supposed to be contained. You were supposed to lead."Emereah did not speak with softness.Vladimir's breathing stalled.The flames in the back of Emereah stretched a shadow across her face, dancing like the war that continued to smolder beneath her flesh. Her eyes sparkled—not with malice, but with something more. Memory. Determination. The specter of every dead brother. Every cry that was never silenced. Every grief that had cried her name aloud instead of whispered.She moved closer, the gravity of her words pulling time into a standstill.Don't forget, this kingdom wasn't really yours," she instructed, voice low, cutting, and shaking with flames. "This land—this heritage—was founded by the Crescent
The wind sighed between the standing stones, quiet and aghast—as if the woods themselves stood aghast.Within the mighty circle of stone in the secret dale's center, Silvermoon Fang Pack—formerly scattered, shattered, hunted—collected beneath moonlight silvered and weird. Their eyes shone with remembrance. Their hearts pounded with a truth long lost:Their Alpha had returned.Emereah, cloaked in fire and prophecy, stood at the edge of the sacred hearthstone—her skin slick with sweat, her voice cracking from pain. Blood painted the earth at her feet. Vera held her close, arms braced, teeth clenched.“She’s coming,” Emereah gasped, her hand gripping Vera’s forearm. “I can feel her crown—ahh!”“Hold on, my Luna,” Vera whispered, voice fierce but trembling. “You’re almost there. Just a little more.”Rhovan knelt beside her, sword lying at his side but gaze never wavering from her. "We're surrounded. We'll protect her. We'll protect both of you."The Silvermoon pack howled at the edge of t
"When she was still inside me. When I gave birth to her under Vladimir's sigil. The curse now lay, under love and bond. But it will burst forth. when she is seventeen.Her fists were clenched."And it will destroy her."A bitter howl of wind ripped through the cave. Wardstones trembled. Rhovan came on, sword aloft, feeling the blast."She did what?" he roared, the muscles in his jaw twisting."."Morgane." Emereah's voice faded to a scream of rage. "She cursed my daughter. My blood. My future!"The cave trembled as Emereah's energy was unleashed. The color of the fire shifted to silver-blue, burning the edges of the rock with an unending hunger for war."She'll come back on the blood moon," Emereah growled, "believing still she has power. Believing she has destiny.".She looked down upon Lunareth, peaceful still in Vera's embrace. Emereah kneeled, laid a kiss upon her daughter's brow, and breathed softly, "You are not a pawn. You are not a price. You are everything."She stood.Her rob