Chapter 11

On the day of the Black Moon trial, I remained in Cedar Valley.Only a handful of elders knew I was alive. They presented the account sealed before the fire while keeping my later affidavit in custody. Appearing without secure passage would have exposed both me and the children to the Voss remnants; warning Seraphine in advance would also have allowed her to tailor every answer to my testimony. The council would test her first against evidence gathered from hands other than mine. If a second hearing became necessary, I had agreed to appear under neutral guard.Seven moon crystals stood beside the water mirror. Each time a witness spoke, the corresponding crystal would light. I could neither interrupt nor answer. I could only watch as they made the statement that the woman I once had been was never allowed to give.Seated before the water mirror in Cedar Valley, I watched everything on the Moon Altar reflected across the wall of ice. Banners of the Hundred Clans surrounded the totem. Se

Chapter 12

On the third day after the trial, a fire alarm sounded in an abandoned storehouse beside the King's inner wing.A forged emergency order, stamped with a copy of the first token, sent Rowan's four new guards through the western infirmary passage. A former Royal Guard whom two of them recognized presented the second token himself. By the time they realized his badge belonged to a missing Voss officer, moon-devouring grass was already burning in the narrow corridor.The four guards were found alive. Rowan was gone.The kidnappers left two scent trails, one north and one east, hoping to split the search. The severed bond had made Rowan's moon-breath almost impossible to track. Kael could do little but divide the Royal Guard between the two routes.Cassian brought Rowan's discarded boot buckle into Cedar Valley. It smelled of damp rust.There were no iron mines in the northern snowfields. The abandoned shafts lay in Black Gorge to the east. Scent alone was not proof, so I closed my hand aro

Chapter 13

Rowan's first visit in the Moonwood lasted half an hour.Kael brought a small bow made for the winter hunt. Old habit shaped his opening words. "The Wolf King commands you—"Rowan stepped back.Kael stopped and set the bow on the snow."I hope you will come to the winter hunt," he began again. "If you do not want to, we can choose another day."Rowan left the bow where it was and asked if they could walk beside the river instead. Kael agreed. They went ahead while Mara and a neutral guard followed ten paces behind. I remained outside the trees. I would not turn one visit into a reconciliation on anyone's behalf.For months afterward, Rowan still had nightmares when he returned from the Court. Sometimes he pushed me away because the severing spell had taught his body that affection for his birth mother would anger the Wolf Queen.Mara taught him to recognize the sweat in his palms, the pressure in his chest, and the bells he heard when no bells were ringing. I never asked whom he loved

Chapter 14

Fourteen years passed from the day I accepted the office of Silver Moon Chancellor.For the first five, I presided over the Moon-Breath Sanctuary and the new-law hearings. During the next five, I transferred power piece by piece to chancellors elected by the clans. For the final four, I kept only the authority to stop Black Moon sorcery and protect cubs.Whenever I surrendered a responsibility, I left the Court for a time. If the process still worked without my signature, the power had truly passed from my hands.When Eamon retired, Willow became court recorder. The wet nurse who had once trembled on the witness platform could now make the strongest clan chief answer a question twice. When one elder mocked her birth, she read the first hearing she had recorded from beginning to end and invited him to name a single fault in its procedure.He could not.At eighteen, Rowan passed a succession examination with eleven other candidates. The blood seals he earned came not only from his royal

All Chapters of Where the Silver Moon Leads: Chapter 11 - Chapter 14

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14