Semua Bab Incubus Reborn: Sleepless promise: Bab 81 - Bab 90

The fortress was not quiet that night.Saraphina could hear the murmur of voices drifting up from the barracks, a restless undercurrent that refused to settle. Soldiers argued in hushed tones, some swearing loyalty to Lucian, others questioning what they had seen in the courtyard. Every word carried like a dagger into her chest.She paced the length of her chamber, her cloak dragging along the floor, her hands twisting together. “They will never look at me the same again.”Lucian leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his jaw tight. “Let them whisper. I will not allow Astra to twist their fear into chains for you.”“But she already has.” Saraphina stopped in the center of the room, turning to face him. Her eyes glistened in the low firelight. “You saw their faces, Lucian. They were ready to believe her. Ready to see me as the threat.”Kael spoke from the corner, his voice calm but edged. “Because fear is easier than reason. Astra plays on what they already dread. If she can convince t

The dungeon’s chill clung to Saraphina even after they climbed the last stair and stepped back into the torchlit corridors of the fortress. The prisoner’s words echoed inside her skull: She carries a talisman. It glows when she twists minds.She pulled her cloak tighter, though no fabric could shield her from the weight of what they had just learned.Lucian walked beside her, his stride long, his shoulders rigid with tension. Kael moved ahead, scanning each turn, his silence as sharp as the daggers at his belt.When they reached the war room, Kael shut the door behind them, his voice low but urgent. “A talisman explains everything. It would make Astra’s whispers irresistible, her lies impossible to ignore. That is how she bent Erik. That is how she silenced the council.”Lucian’s eyes narrowed. “Then we take it from her. Tonight.”Saraphina’s pulse quickened. “And if we fail? If she catches us?”Lucian turned toward her, the fire in his eyes softening. “Then we adapt. But Astra will n

The first scream tore through the courtyard like a blade. It was followed by another, then a chorus, as half the crowd surged toward Astra’s dais in blind devotion and the other half broke ranks, charging to protect Saraphina.Steel rang against steel. The fortress, once a place of unity, now cracked down its heart.Saraphina’s shadows tightened around Astra’s ankles, dragging against the dais with stubborn strength. The talisman writhed like a living thing, pulsing so violently that cracks split the stone floor beneath Astra’s feet.“Fools!” Astra’s voice thundered, sharp with panic and fury. “You dare raise your hands against your salvation? Then drown in your betrayal!”With a vicious wrench, she lifted her arms. A surge of dark energy exploded outward from the talisman, a wave that threw people to the ground.Saraphina was hurled backward, her body slamming against the stones. Her bonds snapped under the force, leaving her wrists raw but free. She gasped for breath, every muscle s

The courtyard was frozen in silence after Astra disappeared. Shadows folded over her body like water, then snapped shut, leaving only the faint trace of her rage echoing in the air. The space where she had stood seemed to shiver with absence, as though reality itself recoiled from her departure.The crowd pressed forward, murmurs rising, fear and awe mixing in a tide of confusion. Some stared at the broken talisman lying discarded near the dais, its once blinding light now nothing more than a dull, lifeless stone. Others looked at Saraphina as though she were no longer entirely human, their eyes wide, their mouths parted in hushed disbelief.Lucian’s hand brushed against hers, steady and grounding. His voice, low enough for only her ears, broke through the whirlwind. “Do not falter. They are watching.”Saraphina’s chest rose and fell. Her pulse thundered in her ears. Every eye was on her, every whisper an accusation or a prayer. She wanted to collapse under the weight of it, to escape

The council chamber was cloaked in shadow, the torches burning low as if even fire feared to witness the arguments within. Heavy curtains muffled the night beyond, and the carved table at the center gleamed with candlelight, its surface scarred from generations of restless hands and desperate bargains.Nine figures sat in their high-backed chairs, each cloaked in the authority of their office, but tonight none wore the calm masks they displayed before the people. Tonight, the council bared its teeth.“She shattered the talisman,” Councillor Verrun hissed, his lean face sharp as the blade at his hip. “Do you grasp the magnitude of that? No one in our recorded history has so much as cracked it. And yet she crushed it in her hands like dried clay. That is not strength to admire. That is power to fear.”Across the table, Councillor Althea leaned forward, silver braids catching the light. Her voice was low, but it carried a weight that silenced the room for a heartbeat. “Fear does not nega