Semua Bab THE CAPTIVE'S LOVE: Bab 71 - Bab 80

The door creaked shut on Vladimir as he lingered in the darkened corridor, his mask-like face impassive, but his mind ablaze with chaos.She was hiding something.He'd heard the ice in her tone—measured, controlled. But too slick. Too smooth. Not the firebrand who'd screamed her truth in his face. Not the broken Luna who cried in his arms. This was something else.Measured. Guarded."She's building walls again…" he whispered.He strode away from her room and marched down the hall, his boots ringing on the highly polished stone. The guards stood tall at his approach."Who was in her room prior to my arrival?" he snapped.The sentry nearest him stuttered. "Only Lady Kaeleen, Alpha. She brought ointment for her wound. And one of the Silverfang cleaning maids—Vera, if I remember."Vladimir's gaze narrowed.Vera.He saw her name. Once a slave, all but forgotten. But lately. he'd overheard whispers. How she lingered too long at Emereah's side. How her loyalty wasn't quite up to the standard

Sanctum of the Elders — Northwatch KeepThe wind changed.Not the sort that whispered through leaves or screamed down stone halls.No, this wind bore omens.Whispers.Truths buried under centuries of war and peace too ephemeral to endure.The Elder in bone-colored silk stood at the Sanctum's periphery, the edge of his robe brushing against untouched snow. Elder Rhovan. Taller than he should have been. Ageless. A guardian of memory no one wanted remembered.He stood among the trees like a man waiting on a ghost.And maybe he was.For she had returned.The girl.The accursed fire. The one whose line went not only back to Vladimir, but to her.The one they had isolated centuries past."She bears the mark," he whispered, breath visible in the chill. "And the error is repeating itself."Behind him, figures emerged from shadows.The Elder Circle.Vashti. Mouren. Kaldris. Ysell.They had arrived unsummoned.For fate did not require an invitation."She is pregnant," Vashti declared, voice a t

Meanwhile — Outer Sanctum, Elder HallIncense and wet parchment filled the air with heavy, acrid odor. Vera hurried, her footsteps echoing the silent halls of the Sanctum. She had caught them—Elarion, Malthis, and the Silent One—their tones dripping with cunning malice, their words conveyed just beyond the curve of the closed room."The child is not in balance. It is a fire born of rebellion.""It must be removed from her before the choice. Before it kills her.""She will not go quietly.""Then we do not ask."Vera had crouched, silent, behind the Maiden of Tests statue.And she had listened to them plotting.The elders were not biding their time for prophecy or prayer. They were making plans for a ritual removal. A forced cutting—hundreds of years old, outlawed, and nearly always deadly.The child.The prophecy.Emereah's life.They would give up everything to keep their power.Her heart raced when she sped around a corner, shoving aside stunned acolytes and hooded initiates. No time

High Tower – NightfallThe flames had burned to embers long ago.Emereah lay restlessly on the narrow pallet of furs, on her side, one hand curled protectively over the roundness of her belly.Beyond, the wind screamed against the stone walls of the tower. Storm brewed on the horizon.In her mind…Fire.Winding, seething flame.She stood on burned earth, barefoot, the heavens above her staining red and gold, the air itself aflame with ash. Sweat-soaked, her nightdress stuck to her skin. Smoke irritated her eyes.And then—She saw him.Vladimir.Ablaze.Flames wrapped around his shoulders like a crown. His hands, outstretched toward her, burned and shaking.His eyes—wild, haunted eyes—glowed gold. Not with fury. But with something much more deadly.Love.Real. Bleeding. Raw."Emereah," he called out, voice a deep echo.She stepped back. The heat closed in, intolerable."Why are you here?" she demanded, voice breaking. "You imprisoned me—""I shattered them," he said. "For you. For us.

Another older one—a woman named Enza—lowered her eyelids. "You were supposed to wed Alexandria. To mend the broken houses. To complete the Elder Pact. Instead… you welcomed a nameless, fireborn slave into your home and had the temerity to name her Luna.""She is not a slave," Vladimir growled, his voice a burning blade. "She is mine."That's the issue," Calrex interrupted icily. "You claim her like a weapon. Not a woman. You paraded her through our courts, crowned her, and now look—our lands are restless. The omens bleed fire. The balance of Eltharia trembles."Vladimir's eyes were afire. "I will not be lectured to by cowards who speak from behind scrolls while ordering slaughter in the dark. Do not talk of balance when you conspire to tear a child from its mother."The room was silent.A flash of discomfort crossed the faces of the elders.So he knew."So it's true," Vladimir growled, his voice low and poisonous. "You would slit her open for prophecy. You would offer up my child as s