All Chapters of MOON MARKED BY THE LYCAN KING: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

SKYE’S POV Six days remained until the coronation. Nighthaven woke before the sun. The fortress was already breathing with movement when I stepped onto the upper gallery wrapped in a dark winter cloak. Torches still burned along the walls, their flames flickering gold against the pale blue darkness, and below me the courtyards were alive with purposeful motion. Wagons creaked through the gates. Servants carried armfuls of evergreen boughs. Guards changed shifts with crisp salutes. And somewhere in the lower kitchens, someone was singing. The sound drifted upward through the cold air, soft and unhurried, and for a moment I simply stood there listening. This was not the silence of a kingdom holding its breath. It was the sound of a kingdom preparing to celebrate. Footsteps approached behind me. I didn’t need to turn. Eryx’s presence moved through the bond like warm silver light. “You escaped before breakfast,” he murmured, stepping beside me. “You were asl

SKYE’S POV Four days remained until the coronation. The valley woke beneath clear skies. After days of snow and drifting mist, the mountains finally revealed themselves in full—jagged white peaks blazing beneath the winter sun, the river flashing like molten silver, and the fortress of Nighthaven standing dark and proud against the snow-covered cliffs. For the first time in what felt like weeks, I could see all the way to the western ridge. It should have felt triumphant. Instead, it felt real. The coronation was no longer a distant ceremony buried beneath endless preparations. It was approaching with the steady certainty of sunrise. Four days. I stood on the upper terrace wrapped in my blue cloak, the cold biting my cheeks, and tried to imagine what life would look like after the crown. Not the celebration. Not the vows. After. Eryx found me there just as the first bells rang for morning council. “You disappeared before breakfast again,” he said, coming t

SKYE’S POV Two days remained until the coronation. The snow stopped before dawn. For the first time in nearly a week, the sky above Nighthaven opened completely, revealing a sweep of cold stars so bright they looked close enough to touch. By morning, sunlight spilled across the valley in long rivers of gold, turning the snowfields into sheets of fire. The entire kingdom seemed to exhale. I felt it in the courtyards below our chambers, where servants laughed more easily as they carried garlands and lanterns through the fortress. I felt it in the market square, where the southern musicians had somehow convinced the northern clans to join a rehearsal that sounded more like a celebration than a performance. And I felt it in the bond between Eryx and me—a stronger with every step toward the future we were building together. Two days. The number no longer felt impossible. It felt inevitable. I stood before the window fastening the silver clasp of my blue cloak when Eryx

SKYE’S POV Coronation Day. The bells began before sunrise. Deep, resonant, and unhurried, they rolled across Nighthaven like the heartbeat of the mountain itself. One tower answered another until the entire kingdom seemed to awaken in waves of sound. I opened my eyes into darkness painted gold by firelight. For a moment, I simply listened. The bells. The distant murmur of voices in the courtyards below. The crackle of the hearth. And beneath it all, the steady warmth of the bond. Eryx was awake. He lay beside me watching the ceiling, one hand resting over the amber ring that connected us. Neither of us spoke immediately. Words felt too small for this morning. After a long silence, he turned his head toward me. “Good morning, Your Grace.” I smiled faintly. “That sounds dangerous.” “It’s only temporary.” “Until tonight?” “Until forever.” The words should have frightened me. Instead, they settled somewhere deep inside my chest, quiet and certain. Outside, another

SKYE’S POV The first morning of our reign arrived quietly. No bells. No proclamations. No musicians. After the thunder of the coronation, the silence felt almost startling. I woke to pale sunlight slipping through the curtains and the steady rhythm of Eryx’s breathing beside me. For a few precious moments, I lay still and listened to the fortress waking beyond our chamber—the distant clatter of dishes, footsteps in the corridors, a laugh carried faintly through the winter air. Ordinary sounds. For the first time in my life, ordinary felt extraordinary. Eryx opened one eye. “You’re staring at the ceiling like it insulted you.” “I’m thinking.” “Dangerous.” “I learned from the best.” He groaned softly. “That is a terrible compliment.” I smiled and turned onto my side. The silver crown rested on the table beside Marta’s moon-shaped hairpin. Seeing them together made something inside me settle. The crown was not replacing the woman I had been. It was being added to her