With her fists pressed against the chilly stone wall, Seraphina's voice cracked in the silence.
"You think you can keep me locked away like a pet?" Her breath caught. There was no response. The chamber was eerily silent. The soldiers outside her door didn't even shuffle.
Under the golden sconces, she paced once more, barefoot, on marble floors so smooth they reflected her pale figure. She had never seen a room as opulent as the one Kael had put her in—pillows with feathers inside, perfumed oils in a tub. The desert wind caused the silk curtains to sway. Seraphina, however, did not feel free.
A velvet-lined cage was still a cage.
The sound caused her to turn. A small click. She stiffened. The guards weren't there. It was… less noisy. A shadow shifted. Slowly, she moved back towards the bed. Her gaze darted across the room as her hands clenched. Her heart thumped, but her voice was steady and low.
"Who's there? Come on over."
Once more, silence. Then there was a slight movement. A dark-clothed masked figure with a dagger gleaming in the moonlight coming through the window moved forth from behind the wardrobe.
There was hardly time for Seraphina to shout. She sprang sideways, snatched up the closest item—a decorative lamp—and threw it. Against the wall, it broke. With fluid, lethal elegance, the masked invader stepped forward and ducked. He made a dagger swing.
Instinctively, she rolled across the bed and ducked. Her shoulder struck the ground with force. The man moved forward. She cried out, "Stay back!" and crept over to the dresser. There was nowhere to flee to. The locked door was the only way out.
As he reached for her, the dagger snagged a lock of her hair. Next, through the chamber came a thunderclap. The assailant crashed against the wall after flying back as though hit by an unseen force. The floor clattered beneath his blade.
Seraphina let out a gasp. He had not been touched by her. She felt her chest rise and fall quickly. She examined her hands. Did she do that?
The door exploded. Kael was the first to enter, his dark hair dishevelled and his tunic undone as though he had just woken up. He had blood on his knuckles. Behind him, guards barged in.
He snarled, "Clear the hall. Now."
With a nod, the troops swiftly dragged the startled assailant's limp body down the hallway after removing him, barely conscious. Breathing heavily, Kael stood in the centre of the room. Seraphina glanced up from the ground at him.
She swallowed. "You… how did you know?"
He didn't respond. He glanced over her body, searching for any injuries. He spoke harshly. "Are you hurt?"
She gave a headshake. "I didn't touch him, but I guess I stopped him."
"You didn't," he muttered.
She blinked. "Then who—?"
"I did."
Reaching down to her, he crossed the room. She paused for a second before taking his hand. He had a warm grasp, steady. He assisted her in standing up.
She remarked, "You came here fast."
Kael replied, "I never left the hall. I was observing."
Her eyes narrowed. "Was I being spied on by you?"
His eyes remained fixed. "Protecting you."
Seraphina took a step back. "I required independence, not protection."
His voice trailed off. "Freedom doesn't come without opponents. Especially not for you."
She gazed at him. "Why? Because I'm an omega? A rogue?"
Kael took a step forward. "Because someone marked you, and now everyone, including me, is trying to figure out why."
She took a deep breath. "What do you mean by 'marked me?'"
Kael looked at her. "They sense prophecy in your blood, and your scent changed tonight, awakening something ancient in the court."
"That is crazy. I don't think that—"
"Belief is irrelevant to the future."
She faced the window and turned her back on him. The glass glinted with her reflection. Behind her, the apartment was illuminated like silver fire by the crescent moon.
Subtly, she whispered, "Then tell me who I am. Because I'm no longer sure."
Kael took a step back. Close enough to feel yet not close enough to touch. He whispered, "I don't think you're ready for the answer."
She turned to face him. "Give me a try."
Kael, however, only turned to face the door. His words were, "Meet me at morning. Don't bring any guards. Go outside the Hall of Ash."
Seraphina gazed intently at him. "Why?"
He spoke softly. "Because you can only see your true self in the moonlight." Then he vanished.
Her heart continued to race as she stood by herself. Seraphina also didn't fear the dark for the first time in her life. She feared herself.
"Walk," said Kael in a low, unintelligible voice behind her.
With her bare feet crunching on the cold, sharp stones, Seraphina stumbled forward. The hallway wound deeper and deeper beneath the palace until the light changed—more moon, less fire—and the torches faded. A wind, tinged with dirt and something ancient, rose from the throat of the tunnel.
She took a quick look behind her. "Where are we heading?"
"To be honest," Kael stated. No justification. That voice alone, loud enough to set stone on fire.
The silk ties had left small marks on her wrists. Her robe clung to skin that had only just started to heal, and it was too delicate. Too fragile. It had the feel of a costume. A diversion.
But until the tunnel gave way to the sky, he continued to stride behind her, as silent as a blade. The tunnel led to a vast abyss, a silver-glow canyon illuminated by moonlight. A black lake glistened abnormally motionless at its centre.
The Pool Burned by the Moon.
Seraphina gasped in surprise. The pool was legendary. Whispers. Only to uncover facts regarding blood, fate, and treachery did Lycan Kings use this location infrequently. They said it may reveal your identity and future self.
She said, "No one is allowed here."
"This location—"
With a cold tone, Kael interrupted, "Only those bound to the Moonborn legacy may enter. You went over the queue. You didn't only disturb borders."
At the pool's edge, she paused. She was painted in icy ivory by the moonlight. She looked him in the eye. "Do you believe that I am one of you?"
His gaze shifted to her collarbone, where a slight silver gleam was still visible beneath her skin, and he said, "I think you're something we don't understand. Go ahead."
Seraphina was unsure. "What if what I see doesn't appeal to me?"
"You were incarcerated," Kael's voice grew a little softer, just enough to make her uneasy. "You've lived with lies. The only remaining freedom is truth."
Her icy, silver-biting toes were the first to touch the water. Next, her ankles. Knees. Her heart raced as the cold crawled up her bones. She entered the water up to her waist.
The pool started to light up.
"Is this… secure?" Her voice trembled as she asked.
Kael remained silent. He observed. Unblinking. Then she cast her gaze downward.
Her image changed. Her eyes went white, as if they contained galaxies, yet her face stayed the same. The veins beneath her skin glowed as if they were throbbing with moonlight, and her skin shimmered. A silver crescent, glimmering with holy light, unfolded across her collarbone.
"No," she muttered. "The Moonborn's mark."
With his boot pounding on gravel, Kael took a step back. Slowly, his chest lifted. His eyes were dark and odd. He remarked, "This shouldn't be possible."
Seraphina made contact with the mark. Under her fingers, it burned with revelation rather than pain. "What is this?"
"Two hundred years ago, the Moonborn line died."
"Well, it doesn't seem to have."
Kael remained expressionless. He clenched his jaw. "Don't make fun of this."
"I'm not making fun of you. I'm scared," she yelled. "What does it signify?"
Kael's voice became quiet. "It indicates that the gods are performing once more."
She looked back at the swimming pool. "This is not what I asked for."
He whispered, "I didn't ask to be King."
The words hung heavy and frail between them. The wind then changed. A dark mist slithered across the stones, and the light surrounding the lake grew dimmer.
Seraphina winced.
Kael took the initial step. In an instant, he was by her side, his hand on her arm. Not rough. Not kind. Steady.
"Out. Right now."
"What's going on?" Her voice faltered.
His cloak billowed behind him as he dragged her out of the water. Prophecy causes the Pool to react. Something woke.
Curling back towards the far edge of the canyon was the mist. Seraphina briefly swore she saw a tall, shadow-draped figure observing them. However, it disappeared.
As he guided her back inside, Kael's hand remained on her arm. His silence wasn't icy this time. It was on guard. Making calculations.
Her pace quickened. "Who else is aware of this?" she enquired.
"Nobody will," Kael declared.
"Why?"
"Because if they do, you won't survive."
She paused. "Is that dangerous?"
He looked her in the face. She was pinned by his molten grey eyes. "It is a pledge of safety."
"From whom?"
"Everybody," he answered. There was no fire in his voice. Yet not feeling. It was more profound. Sharper. Before the charge, a battle drum.
They arrived at the room where she had been put. Without a word, her guards, still positioned like statues, moved aside. Kael followed her inside. His shoulders only drooped a little when the door closed.
Seraphina's arms were folded. "All right? Now what?"
"You remain here."
"Kael, I'm not a caged wolf."
His eyes swept over her body. "You're absolutely not a wolf."
There was a spark in the air. She took a step forward. "Do you believe I'm pretending?"
"I believe I would have already murdered you if you were any other creature," he muttered.
"Why didn't you, then?"
He took a while to respond. It felt older than time when it did. "Because I've only ever seen it in dreams, and you carry it."
Her heart skipped a beat. Like a breath held too long, silence grew between them.
Kael headed towards the exit. "Take a nap. Your strength will be needed."
"For what purpose?"
"For when the judge orders your execution once more."
He pulled the door open. Then stopped. He heard Seraphina's voice. "You didn't recoil."
He turned around. "When?"
"When my mark appeared in the pool."
Kael's eyes were burning. He declared, "I've seen monsters. You aren't among them." He then departed.
Standing by herself, Seraphina gazed at her image in the polished glass of the room's washbasin. Under her skin, the mark was still faintly shimmering. But her heart pounded beneath that radiance. Because the mark had blazed brighter the instant Kael touched her in the water.
Not just from the truth. But acknowledgement. And something had sparked somewhere deep within her.
No magic. Recall.
Once, in the moonlight, her name had been muttered in the same tone Kael used. However, it wasn't his voice. A man she couldn't recall owned it. She had forgotten the face. And a pledge that had previously tied the Moon itself to her destiny.
Her hand was placed against her chest. The mark throbbed. And a long, lonely, old wail resounded from beyond the castle walls.
Not a wolf. Something more ancient. Awaking.