SelenaI was six years old the first time someone called me cursed to my face.One of the older kitchen maids, Ressa, pulled me aside near the pantry. She bent down like she was about to tell me a secret meant to comfort me.“You know your mother didn’t have to die,” she whispered. “The priests said the moon took her instead of you.”I frowned at her. “Why would the moon want her?”“It didn’t.” She smoothed her apron with nervous hands. “It wanted you. She was just in the way.”I remember staring at her for a long moment before walking back to the east wing. I sat on the floor beside my bed and thought about her words for three days straight.Then I decided I didn’t believe them.That was the first decision I ever truly made for myself.I still stand by it.The Valez mansion never needed to prove its power. It sat high on the northern ridge of Moonscar territory, all dark stone and cold windows, watching the mountains like it owned them.Maybe it did.I grew up in the east wing, far f
Last Updated : 2026-05-20 Read more