Ariana Lunareth

Chapter Seven

Ariana Lunareth

Silence swallowed the council chamber whole.

Ariana stood frozen in the center of the room, her own words echoing loudly inside her head.

My last name isn’t Vale.

The realization felt unreal.

Like speaking someone else’s life aloud.

Kael stared at her carefully. “What did you say?”

Ariana’s throat tightened.

“I remembered something.”

The older councilman immediately stepped forward. “What exactly did you remember?”

Fear flashed across the woman beside him. “Don’t pressure her.”

But it was too late.

The memory was already breaking through.

Ariana pressed trembling fingers against her temple.

“There was a woman.”

Kael’s voice lowered slightly. “Your mother?”

“I think so.”

The council members exchanged tense looks.

Ariana continued quietly.

“She called me Ariana Lunareth.”

The female council member closed her eyes briefly.

Like hearing the name physically pained her.

Kael noticed immediately.

“You knew.”

The woman slowly looked toward him. “We suspected.”

“You suspected she belonged to House Lunareth and said nothing?”

“You don’t understand what that name means.”

“Then explain it.”

The older councilman stepped forward sharply.

“No.”

Kael’s eyes darkened instantly.

“You don’t get to command me.”

“This is bigger than your authority.”

“Then stop speaking in riddles.”

Tension flooded the chamber again.

Ariana barely heard them now.

Her mind remained trapped inside the memory.

Moonlight spilling across silver curtains.

Warm hands brushing through her hair.

A soft voice humming quietly.

Love.

Ariana suddenly realized something that made her chest ache.

Nobody in the Vale house had ever looked at her that gently.

The realization nearly broke her.

Kael noticed her expression immediately.

“Ariana.”

She blinked quickly.

“What?”

“You’re pale.”

“I…” Her voice weakened slightly. “I think my mother loved me.”

The sentence sounded so small.

So fragile.

Yet it silenced the entire room.

Kael felt something uncomfortable twist inside his chest.

Because Ariana sounded genuinely shocked by the idea.

Like love itself was unfamiliar to her.

The female council member softened slightly.

“What else do you remember, child?”

Ariana swallowed hard.

“A castle.”

The councilman cursed quietly beneath his breath.

“And wolves,” Ariana continued. “Silver wolves.”

The woman whispered softly…

“Moon guardians.”

Kael immediately looked toward her. “What are Moon guardians?”

The councilman answered first this time.

“The royal protectors of House Lunareth.”

Ariana frowned slightly. “Royal?”

Nobody answered immediately.

Then Kael’s voice cut through the silence.

“She’s not just connected to the bloodline.”

The woman looked toward him slowly.

“No.”

Kael’s gaze shifted back toward Ariana.

“She belongs to it.”

---

The ride back to the estate felt unbearably quiet.

Rain fell steadily outside the car windows while tension sat heavily between Ariana and Kael.

Ariana stared down at her hands the entire time.

Lunareth.

The name repeated endlessly inside her mind now.

Not Vale…She was never vale.

Everything she believed about herself was beginning to crack apart.

Kael finally spoke first.

“How much did your stepfamily tell you about your parents?”

“Almost nothing.”

“And you never questioned that?”

Ariana looked up sharply.

“When exactly was I supposed to question them? Between the beatings or the insults?”

The words came out harsher than intended.

Silence followed instantly.

Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.

Ariana looked away again.

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” Kael said quietly. “You’re not wrong.”

That surprised her enough to glance back at him.

Kael rarely admitted fault.

Or anything close to it.

He rested one arm against the car door while watching the rain outside.

“What do you remember about your childhood?”

Ariana frowned slightly.

“Not much.”

“Try.”

She closed her eyes briefly.

“I remember gardens.”

Kael stayed silent.

“And music sometimes.”

Another faint image surfaced.

A woman laughing while silver bells rang softly nearby.

Ariana’s chest tightened painfully.

“Then everything becomes blurry.”

“After what age?”

“I don’t know.”

Kael studied her carefully.

Memory loss that severe didn’t happen naturally.

Someone had taken those memories from her.

Deliberately.

The thought darkened his mood instantly.

Ariana opened her eyes slowly.

“Do you think my stepmother knew who I really was?”

“Yes.”

The certainty in his answer startled her.

“How can you be sure?”

Kael’s expression hardened.

“Because people don’t hide ordinary children.”

---

By the time they returned to the estate, night had already fallen.

Guards opened the massive gates quickly while servants hurried through the halls preparing dinner.

But the atmosphere felt different now.

Word had already spread.

Ariana noticed how everyone looked at her.

Not pity anymore.

But fear and respect.

One servant even lowered her gaze immediately as Ariana passed.

Ariana stopped walking.

“Why are they doing that?”

Kael barely glanced around.

“Because they think you’re dangerous.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“That’s rarely what frightens people.”

Ariana wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

She hated this feeling.

Like everyone saw something inside her that she couldn’t see herself.

As they entered the main hall, Ronan approached quickly.

“You’re back.”

His eyes immediately shifted toward Ariana.

Kael removed his gloves slowly. “Anything happen while we were gone?”

Ronan hesitated briefly.

“Yes.”

Kael’s expression darkened immediately. “What?”

“We found another body.”

Silence.

Ariana’s stomach dropped.

“Where?”

“The southern forest.”

Kael’s voice became colder. “Who?”

Ronan looked toward Ariana briefly before answering.

“One of the council messengers.”

Ariana’s pulse quickened instantly.

“What happened to him?”

Ronan’s jaw tightened.

“He was skinned alive.”

Ariana immediately looked sick.

Kael noticed.

“Enough.”

But Ronan continued quietly.

“There was a message carved into the trees.”

Kael already knew he wouldn’t like the answer.

“What message?”

Ronan looked directly at Ariana.

“The Moon Crown returns.”

---

That night, Ariana couldn’t sleep.

Again.

Wind rattled the windows while shadows moved softly across the dark room.

She sat curled beneath blankets beside the fireplace, staring into the flames.

Moon Crown.

Princess.

Lunareth.

The words haunted her now.

A soft knock interrupted the silence.

Before she answered, Martha entered carrying warm tea.

“You should rest.”

Ariana accepted the cup quietly. “I’m trying.”

Martha sat beside her gently.

“You remembered more today.”

Ariana nodded faintly.

“I think my mother was important.”

“She was.”

Ariana looked up sharply. “You know who she was?”

Martha hesitated.

Then slowly…

“Queen Selene Lunareth.”

Ariana’s breath caught.

“You knew this whole time?”

“No. I suspected after seeing your eyes.”

Ariana looked down at the tea trembling slightly in her hands.

“So… I really am part of this bloodline.”

“Yes.”

The word settled heavily inside her chest.

Ariana whispered quietly…

“Then why was I abandoned?”

Martha’s expression softened immediately.

“Oh child…”

“She left me with those people.”

“No.”

Ariana frowned.

“What do you mean no?”

Martha gently took the cup from her hands.

“I don’t think you were abandoned.”

Ariana stared at her silently.

Then Martha said the words that changed everything again.

“I think you were stolen.”

The room became very still.

Ariana’s breathing slowed.

“No.”

“It would explain the memory loss.”

“My stepmother…”

“She may have helped whoever destroyed your family.”

Ariana stood suddenly from the chair.

“No.”

But deep down…

pieces were already connecting.

The bitterness in the tea.

The missing memories.

The fear in her stepmother’s eyes whenever Ariana asked questions about her parents.

Ariana backed away slightly.

“She knew.”

Martha looked heartbroken for her.

“Yes.”

Tears burned suddenly behind Ariana’s eyes.

Not because she missed the Vale family.

She didn’t.

But because her entire life had been built on lies.

Every single part of it.

A sharp knock suddenly echoed through the room.

Kael entered immediately afterward.

His expression looked dangerous.

“Ariana,” he said sharply. “You need to come with me.”

Fear instantly returned to her chest.

“What happened?”

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“The council is dead.”