Lahat ng Kabanata ng Twin Moon Luna : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Lira led Lyra through a maze of stone corridors, their walls lined with torches that flickered in the drafty passages. The fortress was bigger than Lyra had imagined, a labyrinth of rooms and stairways and hidden corners that seemed to stretch deep into the mountain itself. She tried to memorize the turns, but they came too quickly, and she soon gave up, trusting Lira to guide her."Your quarters are in the eastern wing," Lira said over her shoulder, her voice echoing off the stone. "They belonged to Kael's mother before she died. He has kept them empty ever since."Lyra's steps faltered. "His mother?"Lira glanced back, her expression softening. "She died when he was young. Before the betrayal, even before Mira." She stopped walking and turned to face Lyra fully. "He does not speak of her often. But he must care for you deeply to have given you her rooms."Lyra did not know what to say to that, she was dumbfounded. She simply followed Lira down another corridor, past a set of heavy o

Dawn came grey and cold through the window, and Lyra woke to find herself still in Kael's arms.She lay still, afraid to wake him. His face was relaxed in sleep, the tension smoothed away. He looked younger like this, less like a king and more like a man who had been tired for a very long time.She watched him for a moment, then slipped out from under his arm and padded to the window. The valley was spread out below her, green and grey and gold in the early light. Somewhere down there, Sena was waiting."Lyra?"She turned. Kael was sitting up in bed, his golden eyes hazy with sleep. "You're up early.""I couldn't sleep."He crossed to her in a few long strides. "You look nervous."She didn't deny it. "What if they don't accept her?"Kael's hand found her cheek. "Then I will remind them that she is your mother, and that she is the reason you are alive." He leaned in, his forehead resting against hers. "We face them together."She closed her eyes. "Together, I trust you."But he could s

Lyra spoke for a long time. Her voice started out quiet, uncertain, but somewhere along the way it grew stronger. She told Elara about the kennels and the hunger and the cold stone floor where she had knelt until her knees bled. She told her about the whip and the darkness and the guards who had looked at her like she was less than nothing. She told her about Sena, about the way her mother had held her after every punishment and whispered that one day they would be free.Elara listened without interrupting, her frost-colored eyes fixed on Lyra's face. The fire crackled in the hearth, and the shadows danced on the walls, and Lyra found herself saying things she had never said aloud to anyone.She told Elara about the night the white wolf had awakened, about the pain and the fire and the two wolves merging inside her. She told her about the vision of bones and the voice that had spoken to her in the darkness. She told her about the prophecy that she still did not fully understand.When

The fire had burned low by the time Lyra finally stood from the bed, her legs unsteady beneath her. Sena had fallen asleep in the chair across the room, her grey head tilted back, her breathing slow and even. The tea sat cold on the table between them, forgotten.Kael watched Lyra pace the small space, her hands clasped behind her back, her jaw tight. She had been quiet for too long, and he knew that silence was not rest. It was calculation. It was fear wearing a mask of stillness."You are going to wear a hole in the stone floor," he murmured, his voice low enough not to wake Sena.Lyra stopped and turned to face him. "How do you carry everything without collapsing?" She gestured vaguely at the room, at the fortress above them, at the mountains beyond. "The pack, the council, the prophecy. Your mother hiding in that room. Varya hating you for something that was not your fault." She let out a breath. "How do you not break under all of it?"Kael rose from the bed and crossed to her, st

The rogue's words hung in the cold air between them, and Lyra felt the weight of his desperation settle over her like a second cloak. He had not come for information or gold or power. He had come because he had nowhere else to turn."Your daughter," Lyra repeated slowly. "Where is she?"The rogue glanced back at his companions, and one of them stepped forward, a woman with tired eyes and a child clutched against her chest. The girl could not have been more than five, her small face pressed into her mother's shoulder, her dark hair matted and tangled."She is all I have left," the rogue said, his voice cracking on the words. "Her mother died two winters ago. I have been running ever since, trying to keep her safe. But Aldrian's wolves found us. They have been hunting us for weeks."Kael moved to stand beside Lyra, his hand brushing hers. "Why would Aldrian be hunting you?"The rogue's eyes darted to Lyra. "Because I know what he is planning. I was one of his scouts before I ran. I saw