When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 98

[KNOX]

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Iver holds my gaze, as if he’s expecting a response. Another strange thing. When I say nothing, he gives a light shrug and looks away, going back to being stoic.

Teo remarks, ‘A lot of strange things are happening around here. Like your attachment to that human.’

She’s not human. She just doesn’t have a wolf anymore.

Arguing with my wolf is pointless, so I ignore him. “Why?” I demand from Iver instead, putting my hand under my chin, resting my elbow on the arm of the chair. He should know I’m keen on hearing an explanation.

Iver hesitates, then shrugs again. He doesn’t meet my eyes, choosing to inspect the floor instead. “I don’t know. It’s just… an odd feeling. I don’t understand it, but it’s there, Your Highness.”

I lean back in my chair, considering that, sparing a glance at the floor he’s suddenly so interested in. “That’s because you know who she is,” I say after a moment. “The woman I’m expected to marry. Of course, you don’t approve of her. She’s someone I picked on a whim without even realizing it.”

“It’s not that,” he says immediately, shaking his head.

“Then I think it’s because she’s a part of the Guild? You’re not an ardent supporter.”

“Ardent,” he repeats the word with a mocking, short laugh. “I think the same can be said about you, Prince Knox. Don’t you hate how their influence on the crown is growing each day?”

I hum, nodding. “It’s my father’s kingdom. He can allow things to happen if he wishes.”

“It won’t be his kingdom for long,” Iver points out.

My discomfort at the thought is mirrored by Teo’s snarl inside my mind.

“Hush,” I tell Iver. “That almost sounds treasonous.”

The corner of his lips lifts in an almost smile. Iver’s aware of how I feel about my father. In fact, he’s listened to my father speak to me cruelly on more than a few occasions, so he understands. And he’s been on the receiving end every other time for my rants about Zephyr Oberon.

“What I said about Miss Davina,” he clarifies after a moment of silence passes between us. “It’s just a feeling. It probably stems from something baseless. You don’t have to think too much about it.”

I nod once, but I can tell he isn’t convinced by his own answer. Neither am I, because if I’m being honest, I dislike her too. More now than before.

Especially now that I know what she said to Xena. Davina has no right to speak to anyone like that.

The thought irritates me further because it forces me to acknowledge what Iver said and what I don’t want to acknowledge–how easily the Guild overreaches, and how quickly they assume authority where none has been given.

The library belongs to Aurelune. It belongs to me. I buil it carefully, piece by piece, selecting from the greater palace archives, choosing what stays, what is studied, what matters. No one–not Seraphel, not the Guild or any of its members–decides who has the right to stand there.

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Chapter 98 No Trace Of Her

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I lean forward, the decision forming abruptly but cleanly in my head. It’s the most reckless thing I’ve ever wanted to do. “I want to see her,” I say.

Iver raises a brow in question.

“I want to see Xena. Tonight,” I add. “Inconspicuously.”

His expression tightens slightly, his throat moving.

“You’ll go to her,” I continue, my tone brisk, leaving no room for interpretation. “Tell her I’ll come to her chamber. No one can find out. Not the King. Not Seraphel. Perhaps I could… travel there. Leave no trail.”

Iver hesitates, his mouth opening slightly before he swallows the question.

“What is it, Iver?” I ask. “Tell me.”

He stares at the floor again before answering. “She’s not there anymore.”

Not there anymore? What the fuck does that mean?

“Explain,” I force the word out as my mind races to conclusions.

“She’s been moved,” he says carefully. “To the Old Alchemist Tower.”

I frown. “The Old Alchemist Tower?”

“That’s where the candidates for the Luna Choosing Trials are staying,” he says. “Along with their families.”

I try to make sense of what he’s saying. But the things don’t connect.

Iver fills the silence. “A woman called Oriel is a candidate,” he says. “Xena is her sister–in–law.”

Oh.

So she was moved. From the chamber I gave her.

“Who made that decision?” I ask, drawing in a sharp breath.

Iver doesn’t answer immediately.

“Iver.”

He looks up.

“You don’t answer to anyone in this place except me and my father,” I say evenly. “So tell me.”

He gives a curt nod and says the name, “Seraphel.”

Of course.

I stand. “I’ll confirm it myself,” I say, not waiting for him to follow, but I hear his footsteps behind me

anyway.

I’m just moving faster than usual, but it still takes too long to get there. The door to the chamber is closed. I push it open without knocking. The room is exactly as left it that day, after I very vulnerably told Xena I

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Chapter 98 No Trace Of Her

trusted her without reason.

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Nothing has changed. And yet everything has. It’s empty. Not entirely–the furniture remains, the arrangement untouched–but there is nothing of her here. No sign that she ever occupied this space beyond the absence itself.

She didn’t have much. And even that is gone.

My gaze moves across the room slowly, taking it in, confirming what I already know. Then it stops at the cracked mirror, fractured from the center outward, jagged lines splitting the reflection into uneven pieces.

I step closer and find dark, dried marks on the floor. Crouching, I reach out before consciously deciding to. My fingers hover for a second, then brush lightly against it. Blood? I bring my hand closer, and the scent reaches me immediately.

I’ve smelled it before. At the lake. When she was bleeding in my arms. This is hers. Xena’s.

My teeth clench together, something sharp and immediate cutting through every other thought.

How did the mirror break? Why was she bleeding? And who was here when it happened?

Teo growls, thrashing inside my head, impatiently eager to hurt whoever hurt her.

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