Semua Bab Rejected But Elevated : Bab 51 - Bab 60

CassieThe palace halls were chillier than ever before.I sensed it in the manner in which air shifted around me, heavy and oppressive, as though walls themselves were shutting out. The bright torches that marched once along the stone corridors were now dim and smoky, a feeble source of illumination to pierce through the gloom that had fallen upon all.I cradled my baby against me, the yielding weight of him against my chest the sole heat. I went slowly, but no one looked my way any longer.They would look once, quickly, their heads lowered or their faces bent to something other than me. Whispered conversations were cut short as I approached, the words dying off like spider silk.The handmaid's I encountered in the corridors, who had previously smiled stiffly at me or waved shyly, now fell silent when I stood before them, their faces expressionless and blank. Even some of the members of the council, men I had trusted and respected, regarded me with something in their eyes that was u

Cassie "Well, well, well" I clapped my hands emerging from the shadows, my hand swinging the earrings. "Covering your crimes as always," Daisy turned around so quickly, her back thudded against the wall. She was pale, whiter than I'd ever seen her. Like a flushed mouse trapped in a cage. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. But I wasn't dumb anymore. I knew what she was. I had let that frightened expression fool me one time too many. The pretended shock. The low voice. The trembling hands. It had fooled me once. No more, no more after all. Her trick was over. "Cassie," she stuttered. "I can tell you. It's not what it seems." I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because it reads really as sabotage, treason, and just really terrible decision-making." Her gaze flew to my hand, to the earrings. Those huge, clunky silver roses with the tiny red gemstones. Made to order. Traceable. Dropped with sloppy abandon. There was no way she could not confess to owning this. The whole palace knew

Cassie Some truths aren’t told. They’re buried. And sometimes… they burn until you’re forced to dig them up. The Red Claw Pack wasn’t on any map I’d ever seen. It took Kael, two trackers, and a day’s journey through thick woods and fading trails to get there. No roads, no real markers. Just memory and ruin. We arrived just before dusk. Mist curled between the crooked trees like it had grown roots in this place. The burned bones of buildings stood like ghosts charred stone, shattered wood, and silence so loud it echoed. I stepped carefully over collapsed beams and ash-crusted stone. “This was home once?” I asked quietly. Kael nodded, his gaze sweeping over the destruction. “A long time ago. Before the fire. Before the betrayal.” The air here felt… different. Like time itself had paused. I could feel the weight of stories never told. Lives never finished. At first, there was no sign of life. But as we moved through the broken remnants of what used to be a village, figures began

Cassie I thought the garden was supposed to soothe me. Not until I discovered that there was a war brewing in the borders. The Red Claw banner rising on our border was just a bluff. I should’ve known better, fire doesn’t knock. It burns its way in. Mark's voice hadn't even started to subside yet. Lark wouldn't even meet my eyes. And Kael, he didn't move an inch, as if he'd heard something the rest of us hadn't. I was still catching my breath when the Red Claw messenger emerged out of the boundary mist, pulling the banner behind him like a sword. Sunlight hit his silver-threaded cloak just right, casting the Red Claw crest into the dirt like a challenge. He wasn’t loud. His presence was louder enough than any voice could be. The weight of the wolves at his back, the way the air shifted when he stepped forward,it said everything before he opened his mouth. “I’m here for the daughter of fire,” he said, voice low and formal. “The lost Alpha of Red Claw. Cassie.” My name stu

Cassie "You shouldn’t have come alone." The voice came from nowhere. It wasn’t loud, but it crawled through the air like smoke. I stopped. The crypt was quiet, the kind of quiet that presses on your chest. Stone walls circled me, marked with strange symbols that pulsed faintly, like they were breathing. Moonlight slipped through the cracks above, spilling down in slivers. But the warmth here wasn’t from the moon. It was from something older. I took a step forward, heart pounding. “Who’s there?” I asked. I noticed the flames flickered from the altar in the center. They grew higher. And then—she appeared. A tall figure stepped from the shadows, cloaked in black. Her face was sharp, eyes glowing like coals, and she moved like she wasn’t really walking—just floating. “You carry my name,” she said. “But not my truth.” Cassara. The name hit like thunder in my chest. I couldn’t speak. She touched the altar, and suddenly the flames changed. They twisted into shapes images. I