Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

To understand what had truly happened.

But the moment she tried-

The world stopped.

Not violently.

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Not abruptly.

Just… still.

The courtyard froze around her.

Water halted mid–fall from the fountains.

Leaves hung suspended in the air.

Even the sunlight seemed trapped in place.

And Lyressa’s consciousness turned inward.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Toward her.

And with quiet authority, Lyressa sealed the moment in place.

Right here.

In this single breath of time.

As if she had chosen this exact point in history for Kaelani to see.

Kaelani decided not to push any further.

Some instinct told her to give Lyressa control and she wasn’t really sure why she trusted it. She just did.

Kaelani had never been someone who believed a single story held the whole truth.

There were always two sides.

Always more beneath the surface.

And something in her gut whispered that Lyressa had never truly been given the chance to tell hers.

So Kaelani stepped back.

And the memory continued.

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Chapter 160

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Time shifted around her like pages turning.

Weeks passed.

Then more.

The Seelie Court fell under a slow, tightening shadow as more young women were found dead–each discovery deepening the unease that had begun to spread through the court. Lyressa searched relentlessly for answers, calling upon every advisor, scholar, and healer within the court.

Nothing.

Even her most trusted voices–her generals and commanders–had little to offer beyond speculation and empty theories.

Until one meeting changed everything.

Her general had spoken carefully, as if he already knew the suggestion would not be welcomed.

Perhaps… it was time to seek help from the other court.

Lyressa had gone still.

Kaelani could feel the hesitation ripple through her like a stone dropped into water.

To ask the Unseelie for aid would not simply be a political decision.

It would be an admission of weakness.

An acknowledgment that the Seelie Queen could not protect her own people.

And worse-

the Unseelie did not even have a king or queen at the time.

Only a prophecy.

A long–whispered promise that one day a ruler would rise among them and bring balance to their wild, unruly people.

If such a thing were even possible.

The thought carried a quiet edge of doubt–one Lyressa never voiced aloud.

Kaelani felt it anyway.

These were Lyressa’s private thoughts.

Her unspoken judgments of the other court.

Yet even as Kaelani absorbed them, something else settled into her mind with quiet certainty.

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Chapter 160

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The feeling likely went both ways.

The Seelie and Unseelie had spent centuries seeing each other through the narrow lens of rivalry–each court convinced of its own righteousness while quietly cataloging the other’s flaws.

It reminded Kaelani of politics in the mortal world.

Two sides drawing lines in the sand, convinced the other stood on the wrong side of truth.

Even though both were built from the same imperfect foundations.

And neither had the right to judge the other.

Despite her hesitation, Lyressa knew she could not allow pride–or prejudice–to cloud her judgment.

This was no longer about reputation.

It was about her people.

Young women of the Seelie Court were dying, and with each passing week the fear spreading through the court grew harder to contain. Whatever was responsible had already slipped beyond the reach of her advisors, her commanders… even the Seers.

If there was a chance the other court could help, she had to take it.

Even if it meant inviting them into matters the Seelie had always guarded closely.

So Lyressa agreed.

Word was sent across the veil between courts, requesting counsel from the Unseelie.

The response came sooner than expected.

They did not send a general.

They sent a commander.

Not just any commander–but one whose name was already spoken with a certain reluctant respect even within the Seelie Court. A strategist. A warrior. A figure whose reputation had traveled far beyond the borders of the darker realm.

Draevyn.

He agreed to meet with Queen Lyressa and her council within the Seelie throne room.

The day he arrived, the court gathered in quiet anticipation.

Lyressa stood at the foot of her throne as the great doors opened.

And for a single, fleeting moment-

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