The guards didn't speak as they marched us through the castle, their bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor. The hallway smelled of damp earth and something metallic, like old coins. Flynn gripped my hand so tight his knuckles were white, his eyes darting to every shadow, every rusted suit of armor that lined the walls.
"Stay close," I whispered, though I didn't need to tell him. He was practically glued to my side.
We were pushed through a set of massive, rotting oak doors. The throne room was cavernous, swallowed by gloom. Tattered banners hung from the ceiling, their colors faded to gray. Dust motes danced in the slivers of weak light cutting through the boarded-up windows.
At the far end, slumping on a throne of twisted iron and velvet, was a man.
Or at least, the shell of one. His hair was stark white, hanging in limp strands around a face that looked like it had been carved from grief itself. His skin was translucent, stretched tight over high cheekbones. He looked ancient, like he hadn't slept in a century.
When the guards stopped us, the man on the throne lifted his head. His eyes were black, bottomless pits of exhaustion.
Then he saw me.
The air in the room seemed to shatter. He stumbled off the throne, his legs shaking as if he’d forgotten how to walk. A strangled sound tore from his throat—half sob, half laugh.
"Morgan?"
He didn't walk; he scrambled toward me, his movements desperate and uncoordinated. "Morgan. Oh, Moon Goddess. You returned."
I took a step back, pulling Flynn with me. This man was terrifying. He looked like a ghost haunting his own life. But he didn't stop. He reached for me, his trembling hands grasping for my arms. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply, frantically.
I froze. I expected... something. A spark? A memory? The System had called me the True Luna. It said I belonged here.
But I felt nothing. No warmth. No familiarity. Just the cold, clammy hands of a stranger clinging to me.
I flinched, shoving him away. "Don't touch me."
Clayton stumbled back, looking as if I'd stabbed him. He stared at me, his chest heaving. "Morgan... the bond. Can't you feel it? It's faint, but... please, tell me you feel it."
I smoothed my shirt, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I don't know who you are," I said, my voice shaking but firm. "I don't know this place. I'm only here because the blue writing told me the world would end if I didn't come."
The hope in his eyes died, replaced by a devastating, hollow agony. He reached out again, fingers hovering inches from my face, but he didn't dare close the distance. "I am Clayton," he whispered, tears cutting tracks through the grime on his face. "I am your mate."
"I don't have a mate," I replied coldly. "I have a son to protect."
Before he could answer, the heavy doors creaked open again. A younger man entered—though 'young' was relative. He looked to be in his forties, with streaks of gray in his dark hair and a heaviness in his step that mirrored the King's. He wore faded royal finery, the gold thread unraveling at the seams.
He stopped dead when he saw me. His knees hit the stone floor with a sickening crack.
"Mother," he choked out.
Flynn moved instantly. A low, vibrating growl ripped from his chest, deeper and more dangerous than any sound a fifteen-year-old human should be able to make. He stepped in front of me, shielding my body with his own, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Back off," Flynn snarled, his eyes flashing that unnatural gold.
The man on the floor—Eli, the System had called him—didn't even look at Flynn. His gaze was fixed on me, filled with a desperate, pathetic pleading. "Mother, please. I didn't know. I was foolish. I was... I am so sorry."
I looked at this weeping stranger, then at the feral, protective boy standing between us. Instinct took over. I placed a hand on Flynn's shoulder, pulling him back just enough to show the court who really held my loyalty.
"Flynn, stand down," I said softly.
Then I looked at the kneeling man. "I don't know what game you people are playing," I said, my voice echoing in the silent hall. "But you are mistaken. This is my son, Flynn. I don't have any other children."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Eli flinched as if I had physically struck him. He slumped forward, his forehead touching the cold stone, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Clayton let out a low, wounded sound, turning his face away.
I felt a twinge of pity, but it was distant, like watching a sad movie. These people were broken, but they weren't my problem. My problem was keeping Flynn safe in this nightmare world.
Clayton wiped his face with a trembling hand, trying to compose himself. "You... you must be tired," he rasped, his voice sounding like grinding gravel. "The Luna's suite. It has been kept exactly as you left it. I have dusted it every day for a hundred years. You should rest there."
He pointed toward a spiraling staircase, looking at me with a pathetic eagerness, like a dog waiting for a scrap of food.
I looked up at the dark, looming staircase. The thought of sleeping in this dead castle, in a room preserved like a mausoleum by this unstable man, made my skin crawl.
"No," I said immediately.
Clayton blinked. "But... it is your home."
"It's a tomb," I corrected him. "I'm not staying in there. I want somewhere else. Somewhere away from... all of this."
Clayton looked crushed, but he nodded quickly, desperate to please. "The healer's cottage," he stammered. "On the edge of the Ironwood forest. It is... quiet there. Private."
"Fine," I said, grabbing Flynn's hand again. "Take us there."
As the guards led us out, I didn't look back at the weeping man on the floor or the broken King on the throne. I walked out into the gray afternoon, holding tight to the only family I knew, leaving the ghosts of a past I couldn't remember to haunt the castle alone.
