Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 133

Chapter 133

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Four fae women waited within.

Each of them turned as Draevyn entered, their faces brightening with a too–eager kind of reverence. One even dipped her head slightly, lips parting in a smile that bordered on adoration–or perhaps even lust. But when their gazes flicked to Kaelani, the temperature dropped. The warmth in their eyes cooled to guarded politeness. Another simply looked through her entirely.

Kaelani didn’t flinch. She’d spent her whole life being underestimated, dismissed, or quietly resented for simply existing.

Let them look.

She lifted her chin and met their eyes–steady and unbothered.

In the far corner, the Seers had gathered–quiet in their strange, eternal way. They watched her with interest, their presence heavy but not unwelcome. Observers, today. No doubt curious about the progress of their Queen.

Draevyn stepped into the center of the room and gestured for Kaelani to join him.

“Today,” he said, “you’ll learn how to take back control.”

She approached, keeping her gaze on his.

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“When I intercepted your dream–walk with Julian,” he continued, voice calm but firm, “I could sense you trying to resist me. Not perfectly. Not consciously. But the instinct was there.”

He turned to the four women. “These fae will intercept your dream today. Your task is to reclaim it. Shape it. Anchor it as your own.”

Kaelani frowned slightly. “And how do I do that?”

“Focus. Presence. Command,” Draevyn replied. “But first—stillness.”

He extended a hand, and with a faint hum of power, the circle on the floor brightened.

“Positions,” he said.

The fae women moved to stand at four equidistant points along the outer ring–facing inward. Kaelani was guided to the center. Draevyn stood just beyond the circle, arms folded, watching her closely.

“Fae don’t need sleep to dream–walk,” he explained. “A meditative state can be enough. Today, I’ll guide you into that threshold.”

He nodded once.

“Close your eyes, Kaelani. Let go of everything that is not you. And remember–what you allow, they will take. What you claim… they cannot.”

Kaelani closed her eyes–and the other fae followed.

A hush fell over the chamber, pierced only by the soft crackle of blue fire from the sconces. At first, Kaelani tried to mimic how it felt in her sleep–slipping through the veil of thought, drifting loose like a current searching for minds to brush against.

But nothing moved.

No tug. No weightless drift. No sensation of falling inward like there had been before.

Instead, it was like wading into a tide that kept rejecting her–like trying to sink in water that suddenly turned to stone. Her breath hitched. Her pulse thudded louder in her ears. The silence grew tighter.

Then-

Chapter 138

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Laughter.

It burst from the fae women–sharp and echoing. Not amused, but mocking. One of them even clutched her stomach, the sound ringing off the stone walls.

Kaelani’s cheeks flared with heat.

But before the laughter could swell again, Draevyn’s voice cut through it like a blade.

“Silence.”

The command held no raised tone–only an edge of absolute finality. The room obeyed.

He stepped forward, his voice low and steady now, like a tether offered in the dark.

“You’re trying too hard to escape, Kaelani. Stop reaching outward.”

He approached the edge of the glowing circle.

“The dream–state is not some distant world you have to chase. It begins here-” he touched two fingers to his temple, “-and here.” His hand lowered to her chest, hovering near her sternum.

“Anchor yourself. Feel your body, your breath. Let go of expectation, and surrender to stillness. You don’t find the current by flailing. You find it by listening.”

He held her gaze.

“Now again. This time, don’t run. Let it come.”

Kaelani closed her eyes again.

This time, she didn’t reach. She stilled.

Centered.

Grounded herself.

She felt the weight of her body, the rise and fall of her breath, the slow beat of her heart like a drum echoing through bone and blood. The room, the circle, even the presence of the others began to fade–dissolving into shadow and silence.

And then–she slipped.

Not outward, but inward.

The stillness gave way to motion. A ripple. A thread of awareness stretching like gossamer across the veil. Her mind began to drift–searching, sensing–like a hand brushing across the surface of water, skimming the edges of other consciousnesses.

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