Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 247

Chapter 247

Kaelani sat cross–legged at a table, Unseelie warriors gathered in a loose circle around her. She held a fan of enchanted cards etched with shifting sigils, their symbols glimmering faintly as though alive. She studied the other players with an unreadable expression, her storm–dark eyes giving nothing away.

Across from her sat Tharion, undefeated in this particular Fae game for centuries, or so he liked to remind everyone.

He laid one final card face down and leaned back.

“Very well,” he said. “Your riddle.”

The circle grew quiet.

Tharion’s voice lowered, deliberate and melodic.

“I am a hunger that owns no stomach.

I am a voice that leaves no echo.

I am born from friction and die from abundance.

I carve my name into bone and branch alike,

yet I possess no hands.

I travel faster than the wind that carries me,

and I vanish the moment I am drowned.

What am I?”

A murmur rippled through the watching Unseelie.

Kaelani’s lips curved faintly.

She lowered her gaze to the cards in her hands, and with a flick of her wrist, sent them spinning upward into the air. They hovered above her palm, rotating in a graceful circle of magic that threaded between them.

With another subtle motion, the cards folded inward, merging into a small, flickering creature that beat its wings once.

A bird formed entirely of living flame perched lightly on her fingertips.

The crowd leaned forward.

Kaelani looked directly at Tharion.

“The answer,” she said calmly, “is fire.”

The tiny bird chirped once before bursting outward into a controlled sphere of flame. It shot toward Tharion’s hand of cards and circled them once before splitting into multiple tongues of fire. In an instant, his cards multiplied–doubling, then tripling until they spilled from his grip and scattered across the table.

The circle erupted.

“Oooooh!”

Tharion stared at the avalanche of cards in disbelief before throwing the entire hand down dramatically.

Kaelani shot to her feet, laughter bright in her voice. “What? Did I just beat the undefeated Tharion?”

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