CHAPTER 2
And for the first time in nineteen years, someone powerful had chosen Elara in front of everyone.
The words seemed to echo through the Moon Festival garden.
Elara stood beside King Adrian with her heart pounding so violently she could barely breathe.
The entire court was watching them.
Some looked jealous.
Some looked confused.
Others looked frightened.
But no one looked more frightened than Lady Seraphine.
Elara noticed.
And for the first time, she wondered why.
The king slowly released her hand.
“Come,” he said.
“Where?”
“Somewhere we can speak without fifty people listening.”
Elara hesitated.
She glanced toward Seraphine.
The woman’s face had hardened.
“Elara,” she said sharply.
The king turned.
Seraphine immediately bowed.
“My apologies, Your Majesty. She is only a frightened girl. She doesn’t understand the customs of the royal court.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Seraphine went silent.
Elara almost smiled.
Almost.
She followed the king through the palace doors.
Behind them, whispers exploded through the garden.
Celeste was left standing beneath the silver lanterns, humiliated for the first time in her life.
Inside the palace, the music became distant.
Adrian led Elara down a long corridor lined with portraits of dead monarchs.
At the end stood an enormous wooden door.
He opened it.
Inside was a private library.
Books filled every wall.
A fire burned in the hearth.
Adrian closed the door.
Elara remained near it.
“What do you know about my mother?”
The king didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he walked toward a cabinet.
He opened a drawer.
From inside, he removed a small silver pendant.
Elara recognized it instantly.
Her mother’s pendant.
She rushed forward.
“Where did you get that?”
Adrian held it out.
Elara took it with shaking fingers.
“My mother wore this every day.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I was there when she gave it to me.”
Elara looked up.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Adrian sat beside the fire.
“Your mother, Isolde, wasn’t simply a noblewoman.”
Elara frowned.
“She was?”
“She was one of the most trusted people in the royal household.”
Elara stared at him.
“My mother never told me.”
“She couldn’t.”
“Why?”
The king’s expression darkened.
“Because someone inside the palace wanted her dead.”
Elara felt the room tilt.
“My mother died from fever.”
“That is what the kingdom was told.”
Elara’s fingers tightened around the pendant.
“No.”
Adrian watched her carefully.
“She was poisoned.”
The words were quiet.
But they destroyed everything Elara thought she knew about her childhood.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Elara stepped backward.
“My father said she became sick.”
“Your father was told the same story.”
She shook her head.
“Then why didn’t anyone investigate?”
“They did.”
“Who?”
“I did.”
Elara stared at him.
“You were barely a king then.”
“I was a prince.”
“And you knew?”
“I knew enough to suspect someone had arranged her death.”
Elara’s eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did you leave me with them?”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“I was eighteen. I had no authority. Your mother made me promise something.”
“What?”
“To wait.”
“For what?”
“Until you were old enough to learn the truth.”
Elara stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your mother believed whoever killed her would eventually come after you.”
Silence.
A log cracked in the fireplace.
Elara looked down at the pendant.
“What is inside this?”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What makes you think something is inside?”
“Because you looked at it like you were afraid.”
The king smiled faintly.
“You’re observant.”
“I had to be.”
That answer hurt him.
He looked away.
“You’ve been treated badly.”
Elara swallowed.
“That’s putting it gently.”
Adrian stood.
“Your stepmother knew your mother.”
Elara froze.
“She knew her?”
“They were friends once.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My mother hated her.”
Adrian’s expression was grim.
“She had reasons.”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Adrian opened it.
His captain, Rowan Hale, stood outside.
“Your Majesty.”
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to enter the western wing.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Seal the palace.”
Rowan hesitated.
“Already done.”
Adrian looked toward Elara.
“Stay here.”
Elara shook her head.
“No.”
“This isn’t safe.”
“You said my mother was murdered. You said someone may still be after me. And now you’re telling me to sit quietly while everyone else decides what happens to me?”
Adrian stared at her.
Then something softened in his eyes.
“You really are her daughter.”
Elara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you are much stronger than anyone gave you credit for.”
A crash sounded from the corridor.
Everyone froze.
Rowan drew his sword.
Adrian moved between Elara and the door.
Another crash.
Then shouting.
“Your Majesty!”
The door burst open.
A guard stumbled inside.
“Someone attacked the western wing!”
Adrian immediately reached for Elara.
“Stay behind me.”
They hurried into the corridor.
The palace had become chaos.
Guards ran through the halls.
Servants screamed.
Smoke drifted beneath a distant doorway.
Elara coughed.
“Where are they going?”
Adrian grabbed her hand.
“Away from here.”
But as they turned the corner, Elara saw something on the floor.
A torn piece of black fabric.
She bent down.
There was a silver emblem stitched into it.
Her mother’s pendant had the same symbol.
She looked up.
“Adrian.”
He stopped.
“What?”
She held it out.
His face changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“On the floor.”
The king stared at the emblem.
Then Rowan whispered something into his ear.
Adrian’s expression turned deadly.
“What?”
Rowan swallowed.
“We found another one.”
“Where?”
“In Lady Seraphine’s chamber.”
Elara’s blood ran cold.
“My stepmother?”
Before Adrian could answer, a scream echoed through the palace.
Then came the sound of steel striking steel.
Guards rushed toward the throne room.
Adrian drew his sword.
“Stay with Rowan.”
Elara grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
“Elara.”
“I want the truth.”
He looked at her.
“You may not like it.”
“I’ve spent nineteen years being lied to.”
She held his gaze.
“I’d rather hear the truth.”
Adrian nodded once.
“Then stay close.”
They entered the throne room.
Seraphine stood near the great windows.
Celeste was beside her.
Several guards surrounded them.
“What is happening?” Seraphine demanded.
Adrian stepped forward.
“We found this in your chamber.”
He held up the black cloth.
Seraphine’s face changed.
Only for a second.
But Elara saw it.
“You know that symbol,” Elara whispered.
Seraphine looked at her.
“No.”
“You do.”
“I don’t.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Lady Seraphine, where were you on the night Isolde Veyne died?”
Seraphine went silent.
Celeste looked confused.
“Mother?”
Adrian continued.
“You were the last person seen entering her chambers.”
Seraphine’s voice trembled.
“I was her friend.”
“You were more than that.”
Elara stared at her stepmother.
“What does he mean?”
Seraphine’s eyes filled with something Elara had never seen before.
Fear.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Fear.
Then she whispered:
“Your mother wasn’t supposed to die.”
Elara stopped breathing.
“What?”
Seraphine closed her eyes.
“I never meant for her to die.”
A gasp moved through the room.
Adrian’s sword lowered slightly.
“Then who did?”
Seraphine looked toward the balcony.
And suddenly she screamed.
“RUN!”
An arrow flew through the window.
It struck the guard beside her.
The room erupted.
Adrian grabbed Elara and pulled her down.
“Stay down!”
Another arrow shattered the chandelier.
Glass rained everywhere.
Rowan shouted orders.
Guards rushed toward the windows.
Elara’s heart hammered.
Then she heard a familiar voice behind her.
A voice she had heard all her life.
Her father’s old steward.
“Princess Elara.”
She turned.
The old man stood in the doorway.
He smiled.
And in his hand was a dagger.
Elara froze.
He whispered:
“Your mother left something for you.”
Then he lunged.
Adrian moved faster.
Steel flashed.
The dagger hit the floor.
The steward fell backward.
Rowan seized him.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“You’re too late.”
Adrian crouched beside him.
“For what?”
The steward’s smile widened.
“The queen has already chosen her.”
Everyone went silent.
“What queen?” Elara asked.
The steward looked directly at her.
“You.”
His eyes shifted toward Adrian.
“That’s why they have to kill you before sunrise.”
Elara felt Adrian’s hand close around hers.
Then a second sound came from outside.
A bell.
One.
Two.
Three.
The ancient warning bell of the palace.
Rowan looked toward the king.
“Your Majesty…”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What?”
“The eastern gates have been opened.”
Adrian turned toward the darkness beyond the windows.
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
“Who?”
Rowan hesitated.
“Soldiers wearing the royal crest.”
Elara stared at him.
“Your soldiers?”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Those are my soldiers.”
Then he looked at Elara.
And suddenly she understood.
Someone had seized control of the palace.
Someone wearing the king’s own colors.
Someone who knew exactly where she was.
Adrian took her hand.
“We have to leave.”
“Where?”
“To the old moon chapel.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where your mother hid the truth.”
They ran.
Through secret corridors.
Past guards.
Past burning banners.
Past servants fleeing into the night.
Elara’s dress tore against a stone doorway.
She didn’t care.
She only held onto Adrian’s hand.
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t running away from someone.
She was running toward the truth.
They reached the chapel.
Adrian pushed open the ancient door.
Moonlight poured through the broken roof.
At the altar stood a small stone box.
Elara approached it.
Her pendant began to glow beneath her fingers.
She looked at Adrian.
“What is this?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
But someone else did.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Yes, you do.”
Elara turned.
Lady Seraphine stepped into the moonlight.
Her dress was torn.
Blood stained her sleeve.
And she was holding a second pendant.
The same pendant.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Elara,” she whispered.
“You need to know what your mother made me swear.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Stay back.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“I have spent nineteen years protecting her.”
Elara stared at her.
“Protecting me?”
Seraphine nodded.
“And hating you was the only way I knew how to keep you alive.”
Elara’s heart broke.
“What are you talking about?”
Seraphine walked toward the altar.
Then she placed her pendant beside Elara’s.
The stone box opened.
Inside was a sealed letter.
Elara reached for it.
But before she could break the seal, the chapel doors exploded inward.
Armed soldiers flooded the entrance.
A man in royal armor stepped through them.
He removed his helmet.
Elara recognized him.
She had seen him beside Adrian many times.
The king’s most trusted general.
He smiled.
“Your Majesty.”
Adrian’s sword came up.
“General Marcus.”
Marcus laughed.
“You should have stayed in the north.”
Then he looked at Elara.
“Because the girl is the key.”
Adrian moved closer to her.
Marcus raised his sword.
“Give her to me.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“Then I suppose we find out how much the king is willing to lose for a girl everyone else threw away.”
The soldiers advanced.
Adrian tightened his grip on Elara’s hand.
And beneath the moonlight, with the chapel surrounded and the truth of her mother’s death still sealed inside a box, Elara finally realized the terrible secret:
The king had not chosen her because she was helpless.
He had chosen her because the entire kingdom was afraid of what she might become.
🔥 LIKE and COMMENT “MOON” if you want Part 3. Once this story reaches the right number of comments, the final chapter will reveal who betrayed the king, why Elara’s mother really died, and whether Elara will become the queen everyone feared.
