When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76 The Scars He Didn’t Touch

[XENAL

The scar appears uglier and more terrifying every time I look at it.

Finsbed

I stand before the mirror and turn slowly, lifting my arm just enough to see it properly–a dark jagged blotch that’s reminiscent of the evil that created it.

My throat dries up as I remember the shadow and the way it reached for me. I have to clutch onto the edge of the dressing table to ground myself back to reality, to remind myself that the thing can’t hurt me here.

With a tug, the blouse slides down my arms and pools at my feet. Cool air kisses my skin, and I brace my hands on the table again, forcing myself to look. Between my chest, half–hidden by the curve of my breasts, the old claw mark stares back at me. It’s faint now, but the memory lives vividly in my mind–a rogue’s hand. A moment that never healed right. There are others too, scattered across my ribs and side, thin white lines I learned to dress around, to hide beneath fabric and silence.

But Knox cleared the scars on my arms, every last one, as if they’d never existed. But not these. These stayed.

A sharp knock sounds at the door. I grab my blouse and tug it on quickly. “Come in.”

It’s Astrid, come with a basket of clean clothes. Lately, she has been quieter than usual. But I think the fault is mine. Over the last week, I’ve only answered her in nods and headshakes. Sometimes, a hum or a frown of disagreement.

A week.

More than a week since Knox stood in this room and told me he trusted me. Since he shared something dangerous and impossible, and looked at me like I was the answer to everything. I hadn’t just imagined it -I know it in my bones. No one has ever looked at me like that.

And then–nothing.

No visits. No pretense of checking on my health. No word of him. Nothing but Iver at the door sometimes, repeating the same words like they’re stitched into his mouth.

His Highness has asked that you remain in your chamber.

I listened. For three days. On the fourth, I stopped asking.

By the fifth, I realized I was angry and frustrated.

After I’ve eaten, I turn my attention to Vera, who’s curled on the bed, watching me with those golden eyes that have started to scare me a little. She stretches, then hops down and pads over, pressing her head into my knee.

“I know,” I murmur, scratching behind her ears. “I don’t like it either.”

She growls softly.

Chapter 76 The Scars He Didn’t Touch

Finished

Tavia comes for her as expected, only a minute later, smiling gently, hands sure and practiced as she lifts Vera into her arms. “Just for a bit,” she says, like she always does. “She needs to be looked at.”

Vera looks back at me over Tavia’s shoulder, ears flicking.

“I’ll be here,” I promise.

When the door closes, the chamber feels too quiet despite Astrid’s presence. That’s when I decide I’m done being obedient.

Iver’s incidentally there when I push the doors open, and he looks startled when I step into the corridor.

“Luna Xena-”

“I’m going to the library,” I say before he can finish. “You told me I was allowed.”

He hesitates. I can see the conflict play out on his face. Orders, rules, a prince who said stay and a woman standing in front of him who very clearly will not.

After a moment, he steps aside. “Let the healer accompany you.”

***

In the vast royal library, Astrid lingers near the shelves, pretending not to watch me too closely. I pull

oks at random, not really with the intention of reading them.

ox wants me to be safe, doesn’t he? But what he doesn’t realize is the person he’s protecting me from… at’s the woman he so badly wants. She’s the one who is indirectly responsible for all the knotgrass in my blood.

shake my head at the thought, even though it nearly brings me to tears. So desperate. So helpless. So me.

eaching for another book when I hear a familiar voice behind me.

“You’re not meant to bend the spines like that.”

Princess Aria stands there with a small smile, arms crossed loosely over her chest, her long hair falling in perfect waves around her figure. She looks radiant as always, carrying an air of authority that makes me cower instinctively.

“Sorry,” I say quickly. “I didn’t realize-”

She waves it off. “I’m teasing.” Her gaze sweeps over me. “I heard you were unwell.”

“I’m fine now, Your Highness,” I tell her with a sigh, putting the book back on the shelf. “I’ve recovered.”

She nods, seemingly deciding not to push. “Good.”

We stand there awkwardly for a moment, and then she tilts her head. “You’re wearing my dress, aren’t you? This has to be one Knox gave you when you saved Dion from the hydralith.”

Heat rushes to my face as I glance down at myself. “I–I was going to return it.”

52 am

Chapter 70 The Scars He Didn’t Touch

* Finished

I wasn’t, actually. It’s one of the only fine clothes I wear. The rest that I ever had or were given to me were taken forcibly from me by Lady Mara or Oriel.

“Don’t,” she says immediately. “Keep it with you. I don’t want it.”

I blink. “What?”

“I have too many,” she says lightly. “Come with me.”

Before I can argue, she’s already walking, glancing back only once to make sure I follow. She takes me to her chambers, which are about five times larger than mine, the entirety lit by soft white candlelight spilling across rugs and cushions. She opens one of the many wardrobes lined up on the patterned walls and gestures inside.

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