The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 401

Chapter 401

Chapter 401

Ellie’s POV

The ruins looked even more grand close up.

+15 Banus

The pillars were far larger than I expected them to be; from afar, they looked big, but up close, they were enormous. Two of us couldn’t even reach around them and have our hands touch, and they were carved with intricate reliefs that had worn down over time but were still visible; images that looked similar to the one I’d seen on the tablet my mother had, depicting wolves and trees and starry constellations, all coming together to create beautiful scenes of life and death and the cosmos.

“The ancient Lycans were fascinated with the concept of death,” the tour guide, the woman from the museum, said as she led us through the maze of pillars and crumbled walls and formations of stones that used to be buildings. “They built enormous stone mausoleums to house their dead, both low class and high, all together in one place.”

“The aristocracy weren’t buried in their own tombs?” I asked, resisting the urge to run my fingers over a carving of a woman cradling an infant in her arms.

The guide shook her head. “No. They believed that we all become equal in death, and that the pack should enter the afterlife together. By burying their dead in the same locations, the pack leaders could help guide the pack members into the afterlife, ensuring that the pack stays together even in death.”

“That’s… actually really sweet,” Dominic admitted, leaning in beside me to study the carving. “When the pack is together, it’s strongest.”

The guide smiled. “Let’s move on to the next ruin: we call it the Princess’s Garden.”

My interest piqued at the mention of a princess. I fell into step beside my father, who was bundled in a warm coat this morning, his gloved hand clutching his cane. Without thinking, I looped my elbow through his free one, and he smiled, leaning into me a little.

“Fascinating place, isn’t it?” he asked as we walked.

I nodded. “What made you settle the pack here?” I asked.

“Look around us.” He gestured at the surroundings, at the ruins, the view below dotted by buildings and people moving through the streets like tiny dots. “Our people come from here. It was the last city to be taken by the werewolves. I felt it only right to resettle here, in the hopes of future generations one day returning the city to its former glory.”

I tilted my head, glancing up at him. “Will you tell the rest of the world what you really are?” I asked. “What we are?” It still felt weird to think of myself as a Lycan, as anything special, but the more I learned about my ancestors, the easier it became.

“In time,” he said. “The world is more tolerant now. Lycans are less at risk than we once were. And now that we have been recognized as an official pack, we are safer from rogues. Especially with Gareth and his zealots gone.”

I shuddered a little, trying not to think about how Gareth had been there the night I was born. Like he was waiting

for me.

The guide stopped in front of another ruin. It wasn’t much, really just a few curved stone walls left, but between the walls, roses were blooming through the cracks in the ground. The walls were, again, carved like the pillars. Only this time, they seemed to depict various scenes of the same woman; long hair, a trailing gown, hands lifted toward the sky.

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Chapter 401

+15 Banus

A knife protruding from her back.

“This is the Princess’s Garden,” the tour guide said, gesturing to the walls and roses. “These roses have bloomed on their own; I suspect they were planted many generations ago, perhaps in service of the reborn princess who once walked these streets.”

My heart stopped at those two words.

Reborn princess.

“You mean…” I stepped closer, studying the woman in the carvings, and pointed at them as I looked at the tour guide. “This was the princess who was reborn after her sister killed her?”

The tour guide nodded. “You know the story?”

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