The Council of Elders' hall was as cold as an ice chamber.
I was forced to stand at the center.
Dozens of elders in black robes sat on raised seats, staring down at me as if judging a criminal.
Kael sat at the far left. He had changed into fresh clothes, his face ashen, but his gaze sharp.
Selena stood beside the elders, the wounds on her face still untreated, her eyes locked on me.
"Elena," the eldest elder said, his voice rough. "Do you know what you did tonight?"
"I just…" I hesitated. "I don't even know why it happened."
"She's lying!" Selena stepped forward. "Elders, this woman comes from an enemy Pack. She used dark magic to control His Majesty! The Moon Priestess bloodline went extinct five hundred years ago. That's a known fact!"
"But we all saw the silver light," one elder said.
"Then it was some kind of illusion!" Selena's voice rose sharply. "She's a spy! She got close to His Majesty for this exact moment! Elders, she must be executed immediately, or she'll become a threat to the Royal Court!"
The elders began murmuring among themselves.
"Silence." Kael finally spoke, rising to his feet. The room fell silent at once. "Elena."
I looked up at him.
"You're saying you don't know where that power came from?"
"Yes. Since I lost my wolf, I've just been an ordinary person," I said. "But tonight… I can't explain it. It was just a feeling. Like I had to touch you."
"A feeling?" Selena sneered. "What a convenient excuse."
"I believe her," Kael said.
Selena stared at him in disbelief. "Your Majesty, you—"
"But trust needs proof." Kael cut her off, his gaze fixed on me. "In three days, the full moon will rise again. There will be a trial. If you truly are a Moon Priestess, the Moon Goddess will prove it. If this is dark magic, you'll turn to ash under the moonlight."
My heart sank.
"Until then, keep her confined," Kael ordered. "No one is to approach her."
I was taken back to the dungeon, this time to a deeper cell. There was no window, only a flickering oil lamp.
I sat on the cold floor, staring at my palm. The silver glow was completely gone.
Time passed, second by second. The oil lamp flickered, on the verge of going out.
Then suddenly, the cell door opened.
I thought it was the guards changing shifts, but when I looked up, I froze.
It was Kael.
He stood alone in the doorway, no guards with him, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
He walked in and sat across from me, the iron bars between us.
"I have questions for you," he said.
"So do I."
He fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know why I lose control every full moon?"
I shook my head.
"Because I'm cursed." He looked down at his hands. "When I first shifted at sixteen, my wolf was too strong. It devoured my reason. Ever since then, every full moon, I turn into a beast that only knows how to kill."
He lifted his head, and there was a kind of exhaustion in his eyes I had never seen before.
"I've killed two Luna candidates. They both tried to calm me on a full-moon night." He let out a bitter laugh. "So Selena's right. I'm a monster. Anyone who gets close to me dies."
"But I didn't die," I said.
"Right. You didn't." He stared at me. "Not only did you survive, you calmed my wolf. Do you know what that means?"
I didn't know how to answer.
"If you really are a Moon Priestess, if you truly can save me..." He paused. "I'll give you your freedom. You can go wherever you want. But if you can't—"
"You'll kill me yourself," I finished for him.
"Yes." His voice was quiet. "I'll make sure it doesn't hurt."
We held each other's gaze. After a long silence, I finally asked the question that had been building inside me.
"Why would you trust a complete stranger like me instead of your chief warrior?"
Kael stood, ready to leave.
When he reached the door, he suddenly turned back. Moonlight slipped through the narrow gap, casting across his face, making that cold, hard expression look both lonely and resolute.
"Because the light in your eyes… is the same as the Moon Priestess who saved my people five hundred years ago."
I froze.
"Five hundred years ago?"
But he was already gone. The heavy iron door slammed shut.
I sat in the darkness, his words echoing in my mind.
Moon Priestess? Five hundred years ago? What did that have to do with me?
Just when I thought nothing else would happen tonight, a strange warmth suddenly surged from my heart, spreading through my entire body.
My hands began to glow again.
This time, the light was brighter, an unreal silver radiance blooming in the darkness. As the light intensified, I heard a voice.
It sounded distant, yet clear as if it were right beside me.
"Child," a woman's voice said, gentle yet commanding. "The time for your awakening has come..."
My heart pounded. I wanted to ask something, but the light suddenly burst outward, and everything went blinding white.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the dungeon.
I stood on an altar bathed in moonlight, surrounded by thick, impenetrable mist. In the distance, a white figure could barely be seen.
"Who… who are you?"
The figure turned around.
I saw a face that looked somewhat like mine. She wore a white priestess robe, her long silver hair cascading to the ground, her eyes the same pale silver as the moon.
She reached out her hand and smiled. "I am your ancestor from five hundred years ago. Welcome home, my child."
