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All Chapters of FROM RUIN TO RULE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

54 Chapters

Chapter 1

PROLOGUEThey say the Moon was the first to bleed.Long before time had a name and stars knew their place, She tore herself in two....one half became light; soft and silver, the mother of tides and dreams.While the other, shadow, hidden, and wild, beating with a hunger that could never be caged.From Her breath came the five.The wolves, carved from bone and instinct, were Her voice, loyal, feral and bound to the tides of Her will.The fae, born of Her laughter and beauty, they danced between realms, timeless, cruel, and bound by truth sharper than any blade.The vaelth, children of dusk and death. Vampyric wraith, not undead, but cursed descendants of sun hating sorcerers, who whispered secrets the living feared.The dragons, Her fire, Her fury, forgotten now by many, but never by the earth, shape shifters and fire breathers who dwelled in the royal courts of the mountains.And the shadowborn… Her mistake, Her silence. Creatures never meant to rise, a forgotten race said to be exti

Chapter 2

SYLARI“You call that a swing?” Daren's voice barked from across the training pit.I gritted my teeth, my arm was already swollen, but I lifted the blade again.“Try again, Syl,” he mocked, “Or maybe your weak wrists can’t handle anything thicker than a broom.”The other warriors howled with laughter, one of them, Riko’s cousin, maybe, I couldn’t remember....picked up a stone and tossed it toward me and it hit my shoulder with a dull thud.“Oops,” he said with a sneer, “My hand slipped.”No one corrected him, of course not.“Don’t stop,” another chimed in.“Maybe if we hit her hard enough, her wolf will wake up and grow a spine.”“Move, curse-child.” Riko said hitting me across the same shoulder that had just been hit with a stone.I didn’t flinch, I had learned not to, because flinching gave them something to laugh about.Riko, the Alpha’s second-born, my immediate younger brother spat near my foot, “She doesn’t even blink, what a freak.”“I heard she sleeps with her eyes open,” one

Chapter 3

SYLARIAnother day.At sixteen, my life had already rotted into a cycle of cruelty and silence. I had grown into my body, curves were now where angles once were, soft features shaped by a childhood of hard fists and sharp words.My beauty, as they called it, became another curse. In the palace halls, I was no longer just the mute disappointment of a father who wished I'd never been born, I was a thing to be used, a temptation, and a toy.I was slapped if I spoke, kicked if I hesitated, and beaten if I couldn’t keep up. My body was not just a battlefield, for fists, but for greedy eyes and lecherous hands. There was no sanctuary, not even in my sleep, or behind locked doors, there were rather no locked doors.“You’re growing up beautifully,” one of the nobles had once said, his fingers grazing my jaw like I was a prized mare he was appraising.“It's a shame that mouth of yours stays shut, I could teach you how to use it.”I hadn’t responded, I never did but my silence didn’t save me, i

Chapter 4

SYLARIThey say the Moon chooses us.That when the stars align and your eighteenth year settles into your bones, you’ll feel it, this pull, this becoming. The shift isn’t just muscle and fur. It’s a revelation, proof that the Moon Goddess has seen you, claimed you, and called you worthy.But I am eighteen now....and the moon....it never came for me.********************************For the first time in my life, they dressed me in silk.Soft, silver silk like my eyes, embroidered with tiny moons and stars, symbols of hope, they said, of strength and of rebirth.The entire Crescent Fang court buzzed with excitement. They said prayers to the Moon Goddess, and wove spells into the hem of my robes, they hummed lullabies I never remembered anyone singing to me.It was absurd how hope could bloom in the ugliest soil, Tessa the young but now old maid who had always tucked scraps of bread under my bed when no one watched, and cleaned my bruises without being told. She brushed my hair that mor

Chapter 5

SYLARII woke up with a heavy ache in my skull, my body still full of deep bruises and cuts from last night's beating.But they didn’t wait for me to heal, not even a day.Chains bit into my wrists, but I didn’t care, each clink was a countdown to freedom, as the guards led me through the winding stone corridor, past grand arches and sneering nobles, I held my head high.Because this was it, this was my way out.Crescent Fang was behind me now, its halls soaked in my blood, the constant bruises, and a lifetime of cruelty. My father’s fists, and my brothers’ faces as they shattered my body, the sickening eyes of old men deciding what my worth was, all of it, was now behind me.And nothing.... absolutely nothing....could be worse than that.So when they dragged me onto the auction platform, I didn’t shrink back I stepped forward and allowed the cold wind to hit my blistered skin, I'm free from hell.Gasps fluttered through the crowd like startled birds.I knew what they saw: the Crescen

Chapter 6

‎ ~ ‎SYLARI ~‎ The door slammed shut behind him. I sat up fast on the bed, my heart already pounding. The room was dark except for the moonlight coming through the tall window. I could make out his shape moving closer–tall, his wings folded against his back, his eyes catching the light. He stopped at the foot of the bed. I felt his stare on me, heavy and sure of itself. “You dared me,” he said, voice low. He sounded almost amused. I didn’t answer right away. My throat was tight, but I forced myself to breathe steady. I wasn’t going to let him see how much this scared me. Not after everything back home. I’d survived worse than some fae who thought he could take what he wanted. I slid off the bed and stood. The nightgown hung loose, already torn from earlier. I didn’t try to cover up. Showing weakness wouldn’t help. He stepped forward. I stepped back until my shoulders hit the wall. Cold stone against my skin. He reached for me. I ducked under his arm and shoved him h

Chapter 7

‎ ‎~ SYLARI ~‎ The footsteps got louder. Boots on stone, hurried and many. I tightened my grip on the crystal shard until the edges cut deeper into my palm. Blood ran warm down my wrist but I didn’t let go. I stepped over one of the bodies and moved closer to the open door. My legs felt steady even though my heart was still racing. I wasn’t going to wait in the corner like before.The first fae appeared in the doorway. Tall, armored the same as the dead ones, his blade already out. He saw the room, saw me standing there covered in blood, and stopped short. Behind him, more poured in. Five. Then seven. They spread out, filling the space, their eyes locked on me. One of them, older with silver in his hair, raised a hand to hold the others back. He looked at the bodies on the floor, then at the severed wing still twitching near the bed. “Who did this?” he asked. His voice was calm, but I heard the edge in it. I didn’t answer, I just watched him. He took a step closer. “Y

Chapter 8

‎ ~ ‎ALDRICH ~‎ The messenger arrived at dawn, covered in mud and half-frozen. He knelt in the great hall of Crescent Fang, his head bowed, his breath still coming in ragged pulls. The fire pits crackled. My warriors lined the walls, silent. Riko and Daren stood to my right, their arms crossed, waiting. “Speak,” I said. The messenger lifted his head. His eyes were wide. “General. The fae prince… he bought her.” The hall stayed quiet. No one moved. I leaned forward on the carved throne. “Sylari?” He nodded. “The auction went through two nights ago. Kaelith Aeris paid double the highest bid. Took her to Ravaryn the same day.” Riko snorted. “Good riddance.” Daren smirked. “Let the fae deal with the mute bitch.” I didn’t look at them. I kept my eyes on the messenger. “Anything else?” He hesitated then swallowed. “There’s talk. Already spreading across the borders. Last night in the Unseelie palace… blood in the halls. Dead guards. A fight in her chambers.” One o

Chapter 9

‎ ‎SYLARI ‎ I didn’t sleep much the night before. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the bodies on the floor. The blood. The hooded stranger’s violet eyes. The way Kaelith looked at me when he said I belonged to him. My mind wouldn’t quiet down. I kept waiting for the door to open again, for more people, more threats. When the first grey light came through the window, I gave up trying. I got out of bed. The robe he had given me was still on, heavy and warm. I walked to the wash basin in the corner. A servant had filled it sometime in the night—cold water, a clean cloth, even a small bar of soap.I washed up slowly. Scrubbed the dried blood from my neck and hands. The cuts were almost gone. The bruises are yellow now instead of purple. I didn’t understand how they healed so fast. I dried off and looked for clothes. In a wardrobe by the bed, someone had left dark leather pants, a fitted shirt, and boots that actually fit. Simple but practical. I put them on. The fabric felt

Chapter 10

‎ ‎KAELITH ‎ The night was cold and still, snow thick on the ground from the fall earlier. I stood on the inner wall of the palace, hands resting on the stone, watching the dark line of trees to the north. The full moon hung low and bright, turning the snow silver and the shadows deeper. My archers waited along the battlements beside me, their bows ready, their breath coming in small clouds. Below in the courtyard, the gates were barred heavy with iron and old wards that glowed faint blue when the wind shifted. Those wards would slow the wolves, but they would not stop them forever. I had known Aldrich would come the moment the first whispers reached us about the blood in her chambers. Pride or greed or fear of losing something he suddenly saw as valuable, it didn't matter. He was here now. I felt the pack before I saw them, a pressure against my glamour. Then the torches appeared between the trees, small orange lights moving closer through the dark. Dozens at first. Then mor

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