Chapter 9 — "Threads of Betrayal"
Selene's fingers traced the edge of the parchment in her pocket as she moved through the dimly lit corridors of the palace. Every shadow seemed to twitch with life, every echo of her footsteps carrying whispers she could almost decipher. The Serpent's game had begun, and now, Selene realized, she had to untangle not just the threads of her sister's betrayal, but the threads that tied the Serpent—and even Kael—to forces she had yet to fully understand.
The archives were quiet, the scrolls and ledgers waiting like silent witnesses. She placed the coin and letter from the west fountain on the polished table and examined them under the lantern's flickering light. Draven's seal pressed deep into the coin, sharp as accusation. The handwriting on the letter was unmistakable — Eira's loops and curves, precise, deliberate. But something gnawed at Selene's mind: a subtle distortion in the ink, a shadow beneath the letters as though someone else had guided her sister's hand.
Her heart thudded. Someone had manipulated Eira. And if the Serpent held even a fraction of that knowledge… then Selene was standing in a palace that had already planned her every step.
A noise made her spin — a faint rustle of silk. The Serpent appeared from the shadows, her presence like smoke curling in the moonlight. "Curious," she said, voice soft, amused, yet edged with something Selene couldn't name. "You seek threads, Lady of the Moon. But threads are never solitary. They twist, braid, and knot… sometimes hiding the hand that ties them."
Selene's hand instinctively brushed the dagger beneath her gown. "Then show me the hand," she said, voice steady despite the pulse racing in her chest. "Is it yours? Kael's? Or someone else's entirely?"
The Serpent's lips curved into a smile that was both sharp and sly. "Ah… but then the question becomes, who can you trust to guide your gaze? The Moon? Your sister? Or the Prince who whispers in mirrors?"
Selene's mind raced. Kael's warnings in the ballroom, Lucien's cautious words in the garden, and the visions forced upon her by the Moon itself — all of them seemed to align with one truth: betrayal ran deeper than she had imagined. But deeper still was the possibility that she could turn that betrayal into power.
"You speak in riddles," Selene said, her voice low, a weapon coiled in silk. "I have no patience for riddles when my family's name, my life, is at stake."
The Serpent stepped closer, the silk of her gown brushing the floor like liquid shadow. "Patience is a tool, Selene. One thing you will need if you wish to survive. Consider tonight's meeting a gift… a warning… or a test. One wrong move, and the threads you follow will unravel you instead."
Selene's gaze hardened. "I do not fear unraveling. I fear only that others will dictate the pattern of my life."
The Serpent's eyes gleamed, a mixture of respect and amusement. "Very well. But know this: your sister's betrayal was never hers alone. Someone powerful pulled her strings, and that someone is closer than you think. Follow the threads carefully… for not all who seem allies will remain so."
Before Selene could press further, the Serpent vanished into the shadows, leaving the faint scent of jasmine and ink behind. Selene exhaled, her mind racing. Every letter, every coin, every vision — they all led to one inescapable truth: the palace was alive with conspiracy, and every figure she had encountered could be both friend and foe.
Selene's fingers closed around the Crescent Mark at her chest. She had already lost pieces of herself to see the truth. She would not lose more without purpose.
The archives seemed suddenly too quiet. The candlelight flickered as if echoing her resolve. Selene whispered to herself, a vow sharper than any blade:
"If threads bind the guilty, I will follow them. If shadows hide the truth, I will expose them. And if the Serpent or Kael or even my sister stands in my way… then they will learn that the Moon's Rejected Bride bends no knee."
A sudden sound — a soft, deliberate footstep — made her hand tighten around the dagger. Someone was in the archives. And Selene knew, without looking, that the game had advanced another move.
Her silver eyes met the reflection in the polished surface of a nearby mirror. One figure stood behind her, cloaked in shadow, watching. And for the first time, Selene understood that the threads of betrayal were not only around her… they were woven into her very fate.