Chapter 28: The Heir Beneath the Ashes

“Brother.”

The word followed Kael up the staircase.

He hated how naturally it settled inside him.

The little girl held his hand as though they had known each other their entire lives. Her fingers were cold, and the crescent mark on her wrist glowed whenever they passed a symbol of the fourth bloodline.

Behind them, Seraphine struggled to keep up.

“Elara, wait!”

The child did not turn.

“You have called me that for twenty years, Grandmother. You can wait for me now.”

Kael glanced down at her.

“You said you wanted to find the woman who stole your life. Who is she?”

Elara smiled without looking at him.

“Your mother.”

Kael stopped.

“No.”

“She took me from the palace when it burned. She promised to return when it was safe.”

“Then why didn't she?”

“Ask her.”

Elara's expression became strangely serious.

“Ask her why she raised you as an ordinary omega while I grew up inside a prison.”

Kael released her hand.

“You expect me to believe my mother knew you were alive and deliberately left you there?”

“I expect you to discover the truth.”

The child continued walking.

Kael remained still for a moment, trying to steady his breathing.

He had spent his entire life searching for the truth about his family.

Now every answer seemed to reveal another betrayal.

Rowan appeared at the top of the stairs, sword drawn. When he saw Elara, he froze.

His face lost all color.

“No.”

Elara finally looked at him.

“Hello, Rowan.”

The former captain lowered his sword.

“How is this possible?”

“You should know. You helped hide me.”

Kael turned sharply.

“You knew about her?”

Rowan looked at him, and the guilt in his expression answered before he spoke.

“Yes.”

Kael felt something inside him go cold.

“How long?”

“Since the night the Moon Palace fell.”

“Twenty years?”

Rowan nodded.

Kael laughed once, without humor.

“You protected me for twenty years. You told me about the crown, my parents, and the destruction of my kingdom. You let me believe I was the last heir.”

“I was ordered to protect you.”

“And she wasn't worth protecting?”

Rowan's eyes dropped.

“I thought keeping you ignorant would keep you alive.”

“That excuse is becoming very familiar.”

Elara tugged at Kael's sleeve.

“Can we go now? I want to see my mother.”

Kael looked down at her.

Despite her innocent appearance, something ancient watched him through those black eyes.

He could not tell whether she was a victim, a threat, or both.

But she was his sister.

And he would not abandon her simply because the truth frightened him.

“Take us to the queen's chamber,” he told Rowan.

The Crimson Queen stood beside the window when they arrived.

Lucien was there too.

He had changed into a clean black shirt, but the rejected mate mark remained dark on his wrist. He looked exhausted, as though he had fought a battle no one else could see.

The moment Kael entered, Lucien stood.

“Kael.”

Kael did not answer.

His attention was fixed on his mother.

She turned from the window.

Then she saw Elara.

The Crimson Queen stopped breathing.

The glass in her hand slipped and shattered against the floor.

“Elara?”

The little girl let go of Kael's hand.

“You remember me.”

Her voice was quiet.

“Of course I remember you.”

The queen moved toward her, tears streaming down her face.

Elara stepped backward.

“Don't.”

The queen stopped.

“I looked for you.”

“No, you didn't.”

“I searched for years.”

“Then why did I spend twenty years in a prison?”

The queen's face crumpled.

Kael stepped between them.

“Mother. Tell me the truth.”

She looked at him.

For a moment, he saw the woman from his childhood memories—the mother who had sung to him, held him through nightmares, and promised that no one would ever hurt him.

Then he remembered the black mark spreading across his skin.

The secrets.

The lies.

The people who had suffered while he remained ignorant.

His mother lowered her head.

“When the Moon Palace fell, your father gave me one task. I was to save the two children of the fourth bloodline.”

Kael stared at her.

“Two?”

“You and Elara.”

Elara folded her arms.

“Then you chose him.”

The queen shook her head desperately.

“I carried you both out of the palace. But Azrael was already breaking free. The pact demanded a sacrifice, and the only way to stop him was to separate the two heirs.”

“So you gave me to the Moon Kingdom's enemies,” Elara said, “and hid him in Black Fang.”

“I thought the seal would hold.”

“For how long?”

The queen could not answer.

Elara's black eyes darkened.

“Until I died?”

“No!”

The queen reached for her, then stopped herself.

“I never wanted that.”

“But you allowed it.”

Silence filled the room.

Kael looked at Rowan.

“Who put her in that prison?”

Rowan swallowed.

“Your father.”

The answer struck like a blow.

Kael stared at him.

“My father imprisoned his own niece?”

“He believed Elara's power was the only thing holding Azrael inside the seal. If she remained awake, Azrael could use her to escape. So your father placed her in enchanted sleep.”

Elara's expression hardened.

“He said it would last one year.”

Rowan closed his eyes.

“The spell was supposed to be temporary.”

“Twenty years is not temporary!”

Her voice shook the windows.

Black shadows gathered at her feet.

The queen stepped forward.

“Elara, please. I will find a way to undo what happened.”

The child looked at her.

“You always promise to save me after you've already sacrificed me.”

The shadows vanished.

Elara turned away.

Kael watched his mother silently.

He wanted to defend her.

He wanted to condemn her.

Instead, he asked the question that had haunted him since the vision.

“Why did Father give you to the Crimson Court?”

His mother's eyes filled with fresh tears.

“Because the pact required a queen from the Moon bloodline to keep the Crimson Kingdom alive. Your father believed he could save both kingdoms by surrendering me.”

“And did he?”

“For a time.”

She looked toward the red moon outside.

“Until the pact began to demand more.”

Lucien stepped forward.

“What more?”

The queen's gaze moved to his blackened mate mark.

“An Alpha bound to the Moon heir.”

Lucien went still.

Kael looked between them.

“No.”

The queen's voice broke.

“The rejection was not merely a consequence of your bond. The first pact was waiting for it. When Lucien rejected you publicly, the wound awakened the ancient command.”

Lucien's jaw tightened.

“My father knew.”

“Yes.”

“And he let me believe I was protecting Kael.”

The queen nodded.

“He needed you to reject him. The rejection would awaken the Moon Crown, but it would also make you vulnerable to the command.”

Lucien looked at Kael.

His expression held no defense, only horror.

“I was used.”

“So was I,” Kael replied.

For once, neither of them had anything more to say.

Then Elara began to laugh.

It was a small, cold sound.

Everyone turned toward her.

“You still don't understand.”

She lifted her wrist.

The crescent mark had turned completely black.

“The pact didn't need Kael to become king.”

Her eyes moved to Lucien.

“It needed the Alpha to reject him.”

Then she looked at Kael.

“And it needed me to wake up.”

The red moon outside split with a jagged line of black light.

The queen stumbled backward.

“No. The seal cannot be broken yet.”

Elara smiled.

“It's already broken.”

Far beneath the fortress, something enormous struck the ancient prison from the other side.

Once.

Twice.

On the third strike, the entire fortress shook.

Azrael's voice echoed through the walls.

“Seraphine.”

The queen covered her mouth.

The voice came again, louder this time.

“Give me my daughter.”

Elara looked up at Kael.

For the first time, she seemed genuinely frightened.

“Brother,” she whispered.

Her black eyes filled with silver light.

“Whatever you do, don't let him take me.”

Then the mark on her wrist opened like a bleeding eye.

And every shadow in the room bowed to her.