All Chapters of The Orphan Luna: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Two weeks had passed since the night they walked to Serena’s cottage and found it empty.Damien sat alone in his office after midnight, the lamp on his desk burned low. Reports waited in neat stacks, but he had not touched them for hours. He opened the bottom drawer without thinking…his fingers closed around a small object wrapped in soft cloth then he unwrapped it slowly.The bracelet lay in his palm, simple silver. One link had broken years ago during a training match…Serena had taken it from him that same evening. She returned it the next morning, the link repaired so carefully that the break no longer showed, she never asked for thanks, she only smiled and said it was nothing.Damien held the bracelet in his hand; the metal felt cool on his skin. He thought about how she used to watch him quietly from the edge of the training field. He was used to her being there, like the air around him…always present but easy to ignore.Now the office felt bigger than it should…the empty space

The three of them returned to the cottage at dusk, no one had lived there since the night Serena left. Dust covered the windowsills, the small garden she once tended had already begun to wither. Damien pushed the door open and stepped inside first, Kieran and Lucien followed.Everywhere smelled of old wood and the faint trace of the soap she used to use. Everything remained in place, as if she had only stepped out for a short walk and planned to return.Damien walked into the main room. On the table sat the music box he had given her years ago, the lid was closed…beside it lay the leather journal from Kieran, its pages still marked with her careful handwriting. Lucien’s carved wooden wolf rested on the shelf above the fireplace, one ear slightly chipped from a fall she had never mentioned.Kieran picked up the journal and opened it, a pressed flower fell from between the pages. He stared at the simple sketches she had made of the three of them during quiet evenings they barely remembe

Weeks settled over Ashbourne territory in a steady rhythm. Serena rose each morning before the sun fully cleared the hills, slowly becoming accustomed to the quiet routine that had replaced the uncertainty of her old life. The early sickness had eased enough that she could walk the short path to the training grounds without stopping, though some mornings she still moved carefully when her body reminded her to slow down. Rhea met her there with the same quiet patience as she had shown on the first day. There was no pressure to prove herself and no expectation that she should suddenly become the warrior everyone believed she could be. They worked on balance and breathing more than strength, focusing on control and listening to her body. Every movement was considered carefully because Serena was no longer training only for herself. There were two small lives growing inside her, and she had begun to understand that protecting them also meant learning to protect herself.After training,

The pregnancy grew heavier as the weeks turned.Serena noticed the changes every day. Getting out of bed took longer than it used to, and walking across the room required more effort. Her body was carrying two growing children, and she could no longer move through her days as she had before.Most nights, she woke with a dull ache in her back. Sometimes she changed positions and went back to sleep. Other nights, she stayed awake for a while, listening to the quiet sounds of the household around her.The twins moved often now, Serena would place both hands over her stomach and wait.One movement would come from one side then another would follow from the other…she smiled whenever she felt them.“You two never sleep,” she whispered one morning…another small movement answered her, she laughed softly.Even simple tasks left her breathless. Walking from her room to the dining area could leave her needing to sit for a few minutes. Rhea noticed the changes and shortened the training sessions

The first pain came in the middle of the night. Serena sat up in bed with a sharp gasp, and for a moment she thought it was only a cramp, until a tight band of pressure closed around her middle and held for several long seconds before it released. She waited, breathing carefully, counting the way the healer had taught her, and another wave followed sooner than the first. Her heart picked up. It was too soon, the twins were not due for two more weeks. She called for Celeste, and her mother arrived within moments, already tying her robe, her face moving from sleep to alarm the second she saw Serena’s face. Without a word Celeste sent a servant running for the healer, and then she was at Serena’s side, smoothing her hair back, whispering that it would be alright. Magnus appeared soon after, his expression filled with worry, and together they helped Serena to the prepared birthing room where light and clean clothes waited, where the fire had already been lit to keep the air wa