Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Julian?” Kaelani whispered, the name fragile with disbelief.

Once

Then again

She blinked hard, as if the vision mi

If she looked too closely.

ill deifted between them

und.

Standing there like

d had conjured out of desperation.

His eyes found

Everything

Never

ury, the violence, the razor–thin readiness

shifted. Not gone.

But

belonged only to her.

1. lt.

A reunion of fated little beasts.”

lie staggered back, hands rising instinctively as though to ward off something unseen.

arely harsh.

ster.

1. d.

omething unholy had finally remembered how to force sound through stolen flesh.

yn went utterly still.

ly, his hand lifted to his throat.

ingers pressed there.

atening as confusion

hadn’t ex

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Chapter 179

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As if

He hadn’t meant for them to hear that.

One of the Seers drew in a sharp breath.

Her gaze fixed on him not with fear…

With recognition.

“You…” she said, voice thin with dawning horror.

“You have bound yourself to a Slaithe.”

The name struck the courtyard like a falling blade.

Shock rippled outward in visible waves.

Some recoiled outright.

Others stared, stunned as though a nightmare whispered in childhood had suddenly taken form before them.

“It is forbidden,” the Seer continued, her voice gaining ancient weight.

“You have committed the highest violation of Fae law. A desecration of the natural balance.”

Her expression hardened.

“To summon a Slaithe is to invite decay into the living order. They are not born of root or star or tide.”

A breath.

“They are consumers.”

Her gaze flicked toward the withered trees.

Then returned to him.

“You did not save this realm,” she said quietly.

“You began its starvation.”

Draevyn looked down at his hands.

They trembled.

Not with weakness.

With revelation.

The skin had thinned to something almost translucent

stretched tight over jutting bone. Veins of molten gold pulsed beneath

the surface in jagged, uneven paths, as if something inside him were forcing its way outward without regard for flesh or form. His fingers curled slowly, stiffly, the joints cracking with a sound too dry… too hollow to belong to anything living.

Then his gaze snapped upward.

On Julian.

On the object in his hand.

“You fools,” Draevyn rasped, the words scraping from his throat like broken glass. “He wields a deceptive artifact. A construct of mage trickery… witchcraft.”

Unease rippled through the Unseelie ranks.

Several glanced toward one another.

Uncertain

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Julian didn’t even blink.

He shifted his grip.

Then turned the Veil of Truth like a dial

Light fractured.

Not outward

But around them.

slow, deliberate until something inside it clicked into place.

It spilled across the courtyard in sharp, refracted bands that caught on stone, armor, shattered pillars…. and the very air itself. Symbols ignited where the light struck – intricate sigils flaring into visibility across every surface like hidden constellations finally revealed.

Julian’s voice cut cleanly through the rising murmur.

“Do those look familiar?”

He let the question hang.

“They should.”

His gaze swept the court.

“This isn’t mage work. And it sure as hell isn’t witchcraft.”

He lifted the artifact slightly

its brilliance locked in place like a verdict.

“It was forged in your realm. With your magic. Those are Fae sigils threaded with Seelie light.”

Silence tightened.

The Unseelie commander stepped forward slowly.

His eyes tracked the sigils as they shimmered across the courtyard floor… across his armor… across the dead bark of the surrounding trees.

Recognition dawned with brutal clarity.

“…Unveiling sigils,” he murmured.

His voice sounded different now.

Heavier.

“They are used to see through glamour.”

His gaze settled on Draevyn.

Respect drained from his expression like blood from an open wound.

As though a spell he had lived under for centuries had finally shattered.

What remained… looked very much like betrayal.

A low sound escaped Draevyn then.

Not quite a laugh.

Not quite a snarl.

Then it finally broke free, it was both.

is burning eyes return

Where,” he

“A frien

A

ou get that?”

but hesitation.

th

owly over Draevyn’s deteriorating form

say… he’s aged a hell of a lot better than

hed.

olished, court–trained sound they had

as something fractured. Raw. Almost re

he final mask had finally been tor

” he said, voice warped wit

and moved.

don, “I suppose the performance is over.”

warning.

incantation.

dow lashed a

serpent – faster than sight, faster than thought. Julian barely had time to ist and wrenched.

ght flashing wildly – before the shadow snapped back and delivered it cleanly into

nation, molten fractures pulsing beneath his ruined skin.

red, “daring to raise fae magic against me.”

ard in a violent imp

at scattered like dying stars

Chapter 179

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across the stone.

Then

Silence.

Only glittering dust remained.

Then the glamour fell back into place.

It rolled over him like liquid gold made beautiful–smoothing the cracks, restoring flawless skin, reshaping bone and feature until the elegant Unseelie ruler stood where the monster had been moments before.

Around them, the courtyard followed.

The dying forest dressed itself in illusion once more.

Withered bark knit whole.

Leaves shimmered.

Branches straightened.

Rot hidden beneath a perfect lie.

As if none of it had ever happened.

Draevyn lifted his gaze to Julian.

Amusement curved his restored mouth.

“Perhaps,” he said lightly, “I will pay your… friend a visit.‘

He paused.

“Right after I end you.”

But something had already begun to change.

The Unseelie commander stepped forward.

Not toward Kaelani.

Toward Draevyn.

He turned fully, placing himself between the ruler and the bound woman.

The hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second.

Then the others fell in behind him – instinct deciding what loyalty could not.

The formation tightened.

Golden current pulsed along the surviving spears as they were brought forward in unison.

The commander’s voice cut through the courtyard.

“Strike position.”

Metal shifted.

Shafts angled downward.

Chapter 179

Every weapon aligned on Draevyn.

A final choice made visible.

Draevyn looked at them with a wide, almost delighted smile.

“You believe,” he said with quiet contempt, “that you can challenge me?”

The commander did not hesitate.

“Strike.”

The order cracked across the courtyard like a snapped blade.

Kaelani’s head jerked up.

“Wait- no!”

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