When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21 A Lie And A Lifeline

[XENA]

I’m dreaming again but this time, I’m not running from a hydralith, or rogues, or Davina’s shadow stretching long behind me. I’m kneeling.

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The air is fragrant with jasmines. The stone face of the Goddess above the altar is calm, looking nowhere and everywhere all at once. I know this place. I know this peace.

And I know he’s here.

I rise slowly, hands trembling as I turn my head. Kasumi isn’t beside me, nor the old woman, nor the wandering exiles that usually gather along the walls of the temple.

It’s just him. The stranger.

He sits where he sat the first time I saw him, arms resting over his knees–but he’s not hooded now. His face is bare to the dreamlight.

And I see him clearly. Every angle. Every shadow. Every line that makes him look carved from something ancient and unyielding, yet softened by something almost unbearably human. Beautiful in a rough, ragged way. Realer than anything I’ve ever dreamed.

His palms are open, extended toward me, waiting patiently. I try to offer him the bread cupped in my hands. But he shakes his head. I expect the silence again—the dream–silence that swallows his voice every time.

But this time I hear him. “You have something,” he says, his voice deep enough to ripple through my spine, “that belongs to me.”

I freeze. “What-?”

Before I can finish, he fades like mist. The temple dissolves. The dream shatters.

I wake with a start, sweat cooling across my forehead. Dawn’s first light creeps through the barred windows of the healer’s quarters, and a soft warmth presses against my side.

I look down–and my breath trips. “Vera…” I whisper.

The pup is curled against me, black fur fluffed, golden eyes sleepy and content. Panic flashes through me.

“How did you get here?” I hiss, scooping her close. “What if someone saw you? Vera–Goddess–what were you thinking?”

Kasumi was supposed to check on her every hour. The pup was supposed to be hidden behind the fortress of chests in my chamber–but somehow she found me!

Somehow… she came.

Only then do I notice–my bruises are gone. All of them

I sit up sharply and drag my sleeves up, expecting the purple blotches, the swelling, the torn skin. But my arms are smooth, whole and perfect. My ribs don’t hurt My shoulder doesn’t burn. Even the ache in my jaw is gone.

12:23 Thu, Jan 22 G D

Chapter 21 A Lie And A Lifeline

“What…” I breathe. “What’s happening?”

I look at Vera.

“Did you do this?” I whisper.

She blinks once, as if answering.

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Black–furred pups with golden eyes are rare. Cursed, the elders claim. Dangerous and unpredictable. But maybe–just maybe–they are something else entirely.

My mind flashes back to the day I found her. One blink, one breath, and I was standing back in my chamber in Frostfang, with no memory of the journey. It was impossible. Unbelievably impossible.

But now… this? Wounds erased overnight?

My chest tightens.

What are you, little one?

Without warning, I’m thinking of the stranger again, who healed me just as easily. No Guild healers are so skilled, I remember Morrin saying. I study my arms again. They’re smoother than I recall them every being.

And this dream now. Two nights in a row I’ve dreamt of him. He’s nameless but somehow he’s embedded himself into the core of my mind.

I straighten as footsteps approach–the shadows lifting with the rising sun. My heart races. I look down and Vera is gone.

I twist, searching under the bed, behind the cots–nothing. She disappeared as quickly as she arrived. Before I can panic further, a figure steps into view.

Astrid.

I react instantly–dragging the blanket up to cover the flawless skin of my arms, the evidence of wounds she knows I’m supposed to have. She pauses at the edge of my cot, holding a bowl of salve.

“What are you doing here?” I snap before I remember this woman defended me yesterday. She was the last person in the world I expected to speak for me.

Astrid lowers her gaze. “I brought you salve.”

I eye the bowl like it’s poison–because it has been before. “How do I know it isn’t laced with Knotgrass?”

Her brows knit sharply. She sets the bowl down with a clatter that echoes off stone. She turns to leave without another word.

“Wait.” My voice stops her.

She doesn’t face me fully. Only enough to show the tension in her shoulders.

“Why did you defend me yesterday?” I ask. “I didn’t think you’d accept the truth so easily. Or change.”

Astrid’s jaw tightens. “Don’t be delusional, Luna.” Her voice carries a hint of frustration. “The only reason 1 spoke is because it was the truth. You didn’t leave the healer’s quarters. So how could you do any of what you were accused of? I couldn’t stand there and watch an innocent person get punished.”

12:23 Thu, Jan 22 G RI

Chapter 21 A Lie And A Lifeline

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A bitter laugh escapes me. “What a hypocrite you are.”

Her head snaps slightly, but she doesn’t turn around.

“You couldn’t watch an innocent person get punished?” repeat, voice sharp. “But you can hand me poison every morning under the guise of medicine? Tell me, Astrid–what part of that made you noble?”

She stiffens.

“Oh,” I continue coldly, “you think I owe you something now? For speaking one truth after a thousand lies?”

Astrid finally spins, eyes flashing. “You owe me nothing. And I owe you no explanation for why I did what I did.” Her voice wavers once. “But don’t think for a moment,” she adds, chin lifting, “that I believed anything you said about… about Alpha Cassian.”

“Ah,” I murmur. “An indirect confession. Interesting.”

Her face darkens.

“You were trembling that day,” I say. “What happened, Astrid? Did the truth finally start cracking the fantasy?”

Her jaw ticks.

Anger stirs in me, sharp and sudden. The anger of a woman who has been used and broken and is finally turning her teeth toward those who fed the fire.

“How do you think Morrin will react,” I say softly, dangerously, “when she learns what you’ve been doing? You’re the one who keeps the herb ledgers, aren’t you? How will you explain the missing Knotgrass? Where it all went? The first thing you’ll lose is your sponsorship

Astrid’s fists clench. Her breath shakes.

“Morrin tolerates no nonsense,” I finish. “She’ll believe me long before she believes you.”

Astrid’s voice breaks. “Fine. Go tell her. Ruin my life, if that’s what you want.”

She turns and stomps away, her steps uneven, almost trembling.

I sit in silence, Vera still nowhere in sight, my heart pounding with a strange mix of triumph–and something sourer. Something that feels almost like guilt

Astrid shouldn’t be the one receiving my anger. Cassian made her do it. She did what she did out of the love she bears for him. And now she is slowly realizing she has only ever been a stand–in.

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12:24 Thu, Jan 22 GRD

When The Luna Broke Her Chains