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The Distance
Last Updated:
2025-05-26 20:29:20
Latest chapter
The Last Moonbane The Quiet War (1)
Stephen’s POVI don’t remember when I started counting how often she laughed without me.But I remember tonight.The birthday candles had long since melted into pale wax puddles. The music had dulled to a far-off echo. The air inside the ballroom had felt thick—like honey and smoke and something unsaid.And then she left.I saw it from across the room. Her slipping out a side door, posture stiff, chin tilted like she was trying to hold in the breath that refused to come. No one noticed, not really. Except me.Of course I followed.Not like a fool. Like a brother. That’s what I told myself, at least.She was in the gardens when I found her. Half in shadow, leaning against the old stone railing with her eyes closed and her arms tucked around herself. The wind picked at her dress like it was asking her to dance again.I stopped a few paces away. Let the silence sit between us before breaking it.“You didn’t even stay for the toast.”She opened her eyes slowly. “Too many people. Too much
The Last Moonbane The 17th Birthday (2)
Seraphina's POVThe candles had long burned out. Most of the guests had already vanished into shadowy corridors or stumbled their way back to dorm rooms or waiting carriages. The hall was quiet again—too quiet.I stepped out to the side garden. It was damp with dew, the grass cool beneath my heels. The moon had dipped low, veiled by passing clouds. A perfect hiding place for things I didn’t want to think about.Footsteps followed. Light. Familiar.I didn’t turn.“Stephen.”He didn’t answer at first. Just stood beside me.“You disappeared right after the toast,” he said.“I needed air.”He nodded. “I figured.”We stood there, side by side, looking out at the hedge maze. The lanterns swayed faintly in the breeze.“I used to love birthdays,” I murmured. “When I was little. I thought maybe, this year, she'd show up early. Maybe she’d bake something. Maybe... we’d have a father.”Stephen didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. We’d shared those same silent wishes too many times before.“But then,
The Last Moonbane The 17th Birthday (1)
Seraphina's POVBirthdays used to mean something. A wish whispered into a candle. A mother’s hand brushing your hair. A hope that maybe, this year, things would be different.When I was small, I thought birthdays were magic.I’d wake up early and sneak into the library, pretend not to be waiting as the castle stirred. I thought maybe, just once, she would come. That my mother would remember. That she would smile.She rarely did.And later, after I learned what it meant to be born a Moonbane, birthdays turned sour. They were markers, countdowns. One more year closer. To what, exactly? Death? The curse? I wasn’t even sure.This year, I hadn’t expected anything. Not really.So when I walked into the stone dining hall and found it transformed—garlands of pale flowers hung from the sconces, soft gold light pooling on the long table, silver cutlery so polished it glimmered like stars—I froze.Ambrosius leaned against the far wall, arms crossed.He didn’t smile, but his voice held a rare sof
The Last Moonbane The Dream
Seraphina’s POVI’d changed.Back in the human world, I used to skip classes without guilt and sleep through half of the lectures without consequence. The only thing I seemed good at was pretending nothing mattered—and for a while, that was enough. But things were different now.Now, I read every assigned text. I trained until my body screamed in protest. I stayed up late studying magical law and bloodline structures. And I wasn’t just keeping up anymore.I was winning.Top of every exam. First in every combat trial. Even the tutors had stopped hiding their surprise.Stephen noticed, of course.“Okay, I get it now,” he said one afternoon, slumped beside me on the training mat after I’d knocked him down—again. “This is why the family head’s always a woman.”I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”He grinned, brushing a leaf from his shoulder. “Once a woman gets serious about something, the rest of us are doomed. I mean, look at you.”“You’re not a man, Stephen. You’re sixt
The Last Moonbane The Distance
Stephen's POVI used to think I understood Seraphina.Even when she was quiet. Even when she hid behind her dry humor and restless hands. There was always something between us—an echo, maybe. A thread that pulled taut but never snapped.But lately, all I feel is silence.Not absence—she’s still there, technically. But the version of her I know feels... blurred.Like I'm watching her through a window thick with frost.Ever since Riddle took us, something’s shifted.She didn’t say it aloud, but I could feel it: guilt. And fear. But also something else—determination, maybe.Then came Ambrosius.I tried not to let it bother me. She has the right to choose her own life. She has the right to be happy.But still.She didn’t tell me.Not about the late meetings. Not about the rumors that spread like smoke down every corridor of the North Tower.She didn’t even ask what I thought.That stung more than I expected.Maybe because I thought we were partners.No—more than that.I thought we were te
The Last Moonbane The Appointment (3)
Seraphina’s POVBut now—now I understood.I understood what it meant to want something so badly, but be terrified of what it might cost the person you loved.I understood what it felt like to hold power over someone and be frightened of using it wrong.“Stop,” I whispered, finally.The word trembled. Weak. But it was mine.I pushed at his chest again. Harder. This time, he caught my wrists—briefly. Not to trap. Just… to feel the shaking.Something in his eyes shifted.He stepped back. Just one step.And suddenly, everything went still.He ran a hand through his hair, like waking from a dream he didn’t remember entering. Then, without a word, he pulled the blanket off the bed and gently draped it over my shoulders.He didn’t meet my eyes.Didn’t apologize.Didn’t stay.He left.And I sat there, trembling.Not because I was afraid.But because I understood.Stephen.His fear. His silence. His strength.For the first time, I didn’t blame him.I saw him. Truly.Not perfect.Not distant.J
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