Forbidden Under the Blood Moon
We had gathered in Marta’s small study at the edge of the healer’s wing, the only room in the territory I still fully trusted, the four of us crowded around a single candle as though the light itself might be listening.
“Someone she trusted,” I repeated slowly. “My father, maybe. Or Elias.”
“I never had one,” Elias said, shaking his head. “If she gave a second seal to anyone, it was not to me. She protected me from as much of this as she could, right up until the day she died.”
“Then who,” I asked, frustration creeping into my voice despite my best efforts to stay calm.
“Patience,” Marta said gently, though there was warmth in the word, not scolding. “Truth this old does not surrender itself