When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 52

Chapter 52 Dreaming Of A Crown

Davina listens as Aria explains what happened in the dining chamber, and the words don’t quite land at first, as though they belong to a different woman standing in a different room, not to her, not to this moment where the air feels too thin, and her palms have gone cold.

Aria paces as she speaks, her voice low and strained, apologetic in a way that feels genuine rather than political. She tells her how Knox lost his temper, how the oath spilled out of him before anyone could stop t, how the room froze the instant the Goddess’s name was invoked. She tells her how their father had no hoice after that, how none of them did, how the oath binds tighter than crown or council ever could.

I’m sorry,” Aria says again, stopping in front of her. “I know this isn’t how anyone would wish to be hosen.”

era

displeasure. She stands with her arms crossed, sharp–eyed and unyielding, and the clipped tone of someone would have preferred honesty to spectacle.

ys flatly. “We are misleading ev ess. If the prince has already swor

ietly. “And what do we tell them? To the mark on his reputation.”

el exhales through her nose. “I know rived here.”

vina barely hears them. Her attention he warmth has been leeched from 1 ch, to grasp whatever opportunit

ke it, the wolf presses. ‘What

bition has always been h gry. Power is being pl thing this valuable ev

a turns to her th by would en

n who has gathered here. They deserve the hen the trials should not be conducted.”

miliate all of them? The King won’t be

would mean. Which is why I disapprove of how

ands, resting uselessly in her lap, pale and chilled as ewhere deep inside her, her wolf stirs, urging her to n’s length and claim it before someone else does.

arper even than fear, and now it coils awake, alert and ith no effort at all, and that alone makes her suspicious.

rry,” she says again. “Aunderstand this isn’t a terrible fate. ur decision.”

se, can I?”

But the consequences would be… complicated.”

you intend to extend it?”

ly certain. “No,” she says. “As much as the Guild has given ine, there are

her shoulders firmly, carne

So much good”

“You could do so niuch as

Davina turns away before her smile betrays her.

“I have to participate in the Luna Choosing,” she says suddenly,

The effect is immediate, Cassian sobers as if doused in cold water, his grip tightening as he pulls back to stare at her.

“You want to marry the prince?” he asks, disbelief cracking into a laugh.

“Of course not,” she lies smoothly. “Don’t be absurd.”

He hums, hands roaming again. “Then why compete?”

“Seraphel wants a Guild representative,” Davina says evenly. “Someone capable. Someone respectable. I can’t marry anyway. My oath forbids it.”

She watches his expression darken, calculating.

“Only for the next two years,” he adds. “After that, you’re free.”

“I’m not going to win,” she clarifies. “I’ll perform well, and then I’ll lose.”

Cassian growls softly and shoves her backward onto the bed, his weight settling over her with possessive intent.

“You’d better,” he mutters. “I’m counting on you to make Oriel win.”

Davina gasps, but her lips curve faintly as she murmurs a sealing spell under her breath, locking the sound inside the room. She wraps her arms around him, breathing in his scent, letting him believe he still has her.

For now. Inside, her wolf purrs, already dreaming of a crown.