Se connecterMirael looked directly at me, but the words coming from her mouth were not hers.Through the silver mark on her skin, I could see her face clearly, even though she remained far away. Her eyes were open, but they held a coldness I had never seen in her before. The voice that came through the connection was calm and commanding.“Leave Noah where he is, Elena. The binding must remain.”I held my son closer. “Mirael, I know you can hear me.”The strange voice answered again. “You are wasting time. Remove the boy, and the other prisoner will die.”Adrian kept one hand against the guardian markings on the floor. Silver light continued moving beneath his fingers as he redirected the energy away from Noah and Eren. He looked towards me, waiting for a decision, but I could not ask him to attack Mirael. She was not our enemy. The force was using her connection to reach us, just as it had used Noah's bloodline and the false commands carried through the network.“Mirael,” I called again, “listen
“Mom, please take me home. I don't want to stay here anymore.”Noah's weak voice hurt more than anything Cassian had done to me. His small hand held mine while the silver band around his wrist continued to glow. Eren was still trapped on the stone platform, and every time the chain around him moved, Noah flinched as if someone had struck him.I wanted to carry my son out of that room and never look back, but the binding had made that choice dangerous. Eren had already explained that their lives were connected. If I pulled Noah away without understanding the connection, I might kill both of them.“I will take you home,” I promised, brushing his tangled hair away from his forehead. “But first, we have to make sure nobody gets hurt.”“Will it stop hurting?”“I am going to do everything I can.”Adrian examined the metal device attached to Eren's platform. He had tried several ways to understand its markings, but each time his hand came close, the silver chain responded. The same reaction
“Rowan Blackwood,” Eren repeated, while the silver chain pulled against his wrists. “He was the ruler who ordered my family erased.”For several seconds, I could not answer. My son's cries had not stopped, and the silver band around his wrist continued to glow, but the name Eren had spoken seemed to fill the entire room. Rowan Blackwood was not simply a name in an old record. It belonged to my bloodline, to a family whose history I had spent years trying to understand.Adrian moved towards the device attached to Eren's platform. “We need to stop this connection before it kills them both.”“I know,” I replied, although I had no idea how we could do that. I kept Noah close and examined the band around his wrist. The light had become weaker, but the metal still pressed against his skin. “Eren, tell me what Rowan did. I need to understand why my family wanted yours destroyed.”Eren struggled to lift his head. “The Blackwood ruler feared that our family could challenge his authority. We we
Cassian had chained my child to someone he was afraid to kill.Noah's screams filled the small holding room as the silver band pressed deeper into his wrist. I held him against me, trying to keep him still without touching the binding. Adrian was already examining the markings, but the light beneath the silver grew brighter each time the prisoner behind the metal panels cried out.“Please, Mom,” Noah sobbed. “Make it stop.”I wanted to tear the band from his wrist, but I remembered his warning. If the two prisoners were connected, one careless move could cost them both their lives. I had spent too long trying to reach my son to risk losing him now.“Adrian, find a way to stop the binding from tightening.”He placed two fingers near the markings without touching them. “The connection is reacting to the other prisoner's distress. We need to find out how the two sides are linked before we interfere.”I looked towards the metal panels. “Then open that section.”Adrian searched along the e
This time, I heard Noah breathe.The sound was faint, almost lost beneath the low rumble coming from the chamber, but I knew it was him. I pressed my palm against the cold stone wall and held my breath, listening for another sound. A small, uneven breath came from the other side, followed by a weak cough.“Noah,” I whispered. “I'm here, sweetheart.”There was a short silence before his voice reached me. “Mom?”My eyes filled with tears, but I forced myself to remain calm. I had found him. After all the false images, strange voices, and traps Cassian had placed in our path, my son was finally close enough for me to hear him.“I'm coming to get you,” I promised.Adrian moved beside me and examined the wall. The marks on its surface were difficult to see, but when he brushed away the dust, several narrow lines appeared around a section of stone. They formed the outline of a hidden door.“This is the room,” he said quietly.I searched for a handle or a lock, but there was nothing. The wal
The child standing before me wore Noah’s face, but the longer I looked at him, the more I noticed what was missing. His eyes held no small spark of mischief, and his hands remained still at his sides. Noah never stood so quietly when he was frightened. He always reached for me, even when he tried to pretend he was brave.“Come here, Mom,” the false child said. “Please.”I stayed where I was. The chamber had already used my fear against me, and I would not let it choose my next step. I remembered the silver mark on the wrong wrist, but I needed more than one mistake before I trusted my judgment.“Do you remember the song?” I asked.The boy frowned. “What song?”“The one I sang when you were little and could not sleep.”“I want you to sing it now.”“That is not an answer, Noah.”His expression changed. For an instant, his face looked almost angry, then the tears returned. “You are making this difficult. I am your son. Why won't you help me?”“When you were smaller, you called it the moo







