Chapter 2_ The moon Goddess judgment

~~Isolde~~

The wolves didn't stop howling.

Even as Riven carried me through the massive black gates of his castle, even as guards in silver armor bowed and stared at me like I was a ghost, the howling continued. From the forest. From the towers. From the courtyard.

For me. The sound was for me.

I was still in his arms. I should have been struggling. Kicking. Screaming. But my body was frozen. Because of the mark on my forehead. It was burning. Not painful, but warm. Alive. Like a heartbeat.

"What is happening to me?" I whispered.

Riven didn't answer immediately. He kicked open a huge door with his boot. Inside was warm. Fire. But not cozy warm. Dangerous warm. Like a dragon's lair.

He set me down. Finally. My legs wobbled. I grabbed the nearest thing to steady myself — which happened to be his cape. His cape that was still around my shoulders.

He looked down at where I was holding it. Then at me.

"Let go," he said.

I let go quickly.

He pulled the cape off me, and cold hit me instantly. The castle was cold despite the fires. I shivered. He noticed. He scowled, like my shivering offended him, and threw the cape back around me.

"Keep it," he snapped. "You are shaking like a leaf and you will catch death before the Goddess can judge you."

Such a romantic.

"Where am I?" I looked around. We were in a huge hall. Black stone, blue crystals glowing in the walls, a giant moon carved into the ceiling. In the center, a pool of water that glowed blue. Silver. Like moonlight.

"The Temple of Selene," he said. "The Moon Goddess's private temple. No one enters except the King and his... and his Queen."

His Queen. He hesitated on that word.

"And executioners?" I asked.

He almost smiled. "And the condemned."

He walked to the pool. His white wolf and grey wolf followed him. They sat on either side of the pool, like guardians. The white wolf with the red diamond on its forehead stared at me. Its eyes were golden. Knowing.

"Come here, Isolde."

"I don't want to."

"If the mark on your forehead is real, the pool will not hurt you. If it is fake... it will burn you."

Great. Either I get judged by a goddess or I get burned alive in magic water. Both options sounded terrible.

But my grandmother always said: Isolde, you are braver than you think.

So I stepped forward. One foot. Another. Until I was at the edge of the pool, next to Riven.

He was so close I could see the small scar on his jaw. The silver rings on his fingers. The way his silver hair fell over his forehead.

"Give me your hand," he said.

I gave him my hand. My hand was small compared to his. Brown skin against his pale skin. My fingers were shaking.

He took my hand and held it over the pool.

"Now, look into the water," he instructed. "And say your full name. The name your mother gave you."

"Isolde," I whispered.

"Your full name," he repeated, firmer. "The name hidden."

How did he know I had a hidden name? My grandmother never told me my mother's last name. She said it was too dangerous.

But suddenly, in my head, a name appeared. Like someone whispered it.

"Isolde Nocturne," I said, without knowing why. "Isolde Nocturne."

The moment I said it, the pool exploded with light.

Blue. Bright. Blinding.

The mark on my forehead burned hotter. I gasped.

Riven pulled me closer, his arm around my waist to keep me standing.

In the water, an image formed. Not my reflection.

A woman. Silver hair like mine, but longer, down to her feet. Wearing a dress made of moonlight. A crown like the one on the castle. And on her forehead, the same red constellation mark as mine, but bigger, brighter.

"The Last Queen," Riven whispered. "Lunaria. The first Moon Priestess. She died a hundred years ago. She was... my ancestor."

The woman in the water looked at me. Smiled.

"Little star," she said. Her voice echoed, not in the room, but in my head. "You have finally come home."

"Who are you?" I managed to say.

"I am the memory. I am the Goddess's voice. And you, Isolde Nocturne, are my daughter's daughter's daughter. The last of my blood. The Forbidden Queen."

Last of her blood? Forbidden Queen?

"Why forbidden?" I asked.

"Because your blood can do what no wolf can," she said. "You can kill the Moon King. Or you can save him. The choice will be yours."

She looked at Riven then. "Riven, son of my son's son. You dreamed of her, didn't you? For twenty years?"

Riven stiffened. "How—"

"Because I sent her to you. In dreams. Because only she can stop what is coming."

What is coming? What is she talking about?

The image began to fade.

"Wait!" I shouted. "Tell me! Am I going to kill him? Am I cursed?"

The woman smiled sadly. "You are not cursed, little star. You are blessed. But a blessing is heavy. He will love you. He will possess you. He will ruin you. And you will have to decide if you let him."

The light vanished. The pool went calm.

Silence.

I was breathing hard. My forehead no longer burned, but it was warm. The mark was still there. I could feel it.

Riven hadn't let go of my waist. In fact, he had pulled me even closer. So close I could feel his hard chest.

"What did she mean?" I looked up at him. "That you dreamed of me?"

His jaw clenched. He didn't want to answer.

"Riven."

He closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were darker. More wolf than man.

"Every night," he said quietly, "since I was ten years old. I dreamed of silver hair. Of a girl with a red mark. Of a voice calling me. I thought I was going insane. My father thought I was cursed."

He touched my forehead, gently, with one finger, right over the glowing mark.

"And then I found you. In a village. Wearing a hood. And the dreams stopped."

My heart was beating so loud I was sure he could hear it.

"So what now?" I whispered. "Am I your mate? Or am I your killer?"

He leaned down. His forehead touched mine. His lips were a breath away from mine.

"Why can't you be both?" he whispered.

His grey wolf growled low. His white wolf whined.

And then the temple doors burst open.

A man in black armor ran in. "My King! The Northern Pack! They are attacking! They say you are harboring the Forbidden Queen! They say you must hand her over or they will burn the castle!"

Riven's eyes snapped to ice. He straightened. He pushed me behind him.

"Tell the Northern Pack," he said, voice like death, "that if they want my Queen, they will have to go through me, my wolves, and a thousand of my warriors."

He looked back at me, just for a second.

"And I have not lost a battle in ten years."

The man bowed and ran.

I grabbed Riven's arm. "Your Queen? I'm not your Queen."

He looked down at my hand on his arm. Then at me.

"You have my cape. You have my mark's twin on your forehead. You have my wolves howling your name. You slept in my dreams for twenty years."

He leaned in.

"You are my Queen, Isolde Nocturne. Whether you like it or not."

And outside, the sky turned red. The sound of wolves snarling, but not his wolves. Enemy wolves.

They had come for me.

TO BE CONTINUED...