All Chapters of Broken Bond: Revenge in Full Moon: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Lily noticed before she even saw him that the man at the lower gate had not moved. She could see it through the way the "palace breathed" around the man at the lower gate -- the slight movement of the guards; the runner's decision to take the long route instead of the short one; and the man himself, as though he was maintaining a stillness, a waiting quietness. She paused at the top of the last set of stairs and looked down.He was right where he should be. There was nothing showing his allegiance -- no pack insignia on his chest, no visible weapons. He seemed to understand boundaries and respect them. He hadn't leaned forward, hadn't paced back and forth. He hadn't asked again.Dylan slowly started to fall behind her as Lily raised her hand—not telling him to stop, just reminding.When she reached two steps below his, that was fine. She continued to walk into the empty space, towards the gate. The guards stiffened, but they didn't step in her path. As she approached the gate, the man

The first change Lily noticed was with the mail. It wasn't in the amount or type of letters that were delivered. The change was in how they were delivered.At sunrise, Lily saw the runner standing at her front door for a little longer than usual. The runner was shifting his weight back and forth with both of his feet. It seemed like he was thinking about whether or not he needed permission to enter into her home."Lily!, open your door," Dylan yelled upstairs to her."No," she replied."You cannot delay this guy all day," Dylan continued."Yes," Lily finally answered, opening the door before the runner could knock."Yes?" the runner repeated, surprised for a moment, then recovering quickly."Lily, these arrived last night."The runner handed her a small package. Unsealed. No label. Ordinary enough to be ignored.Lily took the package and instantly knew something was off. Too light for regular mail. Deliberate enough to make her wonder why it had been sent."Did you look at it?" she asked

The reveal was coming at her from the side, but it wasn't going to come with yelling or announcements. It was going to come, like most things related to impatience, through "help" disguised as "correction."Lily could tell something had changed before she actually knew what it was. The silence had fallen in all the wrong places in the palace. There were corridors that were always in motion (with very small movements), and now they stood completely still for far longer than normal—almost as if someone had asked them to stop moving for a while and then forgot to remind them when to start again.She slowed down to where she was close to the intersection by the council wing and listened carefully."...you can't just leave it unanswered," a voice mumbled softly from behind a closed door.A second person answered back sharply. "Then don't answer it. Send it somewhere else instead.""That's still answering," the first voice responded after a brief pause.There was complete silence for a mome

"You'll be assigned a new role," Lily concluded.The clerk's shoulders relaxed with the rapid flash of relief before he could catch it. It was clear that the clerk had been unsuccessful in hiding the relief and that the room was aware of it."Not openly," Lily stated. "And not far."The clerk's relief paused; he was confused."You'll continue to be located at this location," she stated. "Here, your choices are visible."There was a pause. The elders leaned forward as one, then froze."You'll operate under review," Lily stated. "All correspondence and drafts sent out will be reviewed. You will witness how restraint is constructed rather than assumed.""Yes," the clerk swallowed."And when someone requests your assistance," Lily said, "you will first inquire who owns the outcome.""Yes," he said.She allowed the silence to extend another moment—long enough to allow the reassignment to have the weight of mercy and not a penalty."Leave," Lily stated.The clerk paused and then lowered his

The elders walked toward the archive area, but not close enough that they would enter, just far enough that they could see and observe them. Lily never looked toward the door; she simply listened to the space around it. She felt when the interest waned as a result of caution. a servant approached, he lowered his head. "Lily" "Yes" "there is a message", the servant said. "it is from the western villages." Lily waited. "They want to know if the last message you sent is still valid". "Dylan's jaw clenched tight. "Lily didn't move". "No message is valid until there is a name". Lily said. "The servant paused". "they will say, 'Whose'". "Yes", Lily replied. "that is the whole point". the servant nodded and left. "Dylan watched her. "you are letting ambiguity exist longer than it needs to". "I am letting it find itself", Lily replied. Lily waited on the stone bench at the fountain edge of the courtyard as she was used to coming there frequently since she was a kid. The water r