Chapter 17 Reclaiming My Sword!
Finished
I push open the door to the house, ready for another confrontation about the divorce papers. To my surprise, I find Elian hunched over the dining table, quill in hand. He’s signing the documents.
He’s smiling
1 stop a few feet away, narrowing my
y eyes. You’re not going to fight me on this? Half an hour ago, you tried to stab me over these papers.
Fhan leans back, looking too relaxed. “My mother convinced me to make you happy”
Liar
Emogen stirs inside me. “Something’s wrong. Their heartbeats are erratic. They’re too calm.”
I scan the room. Everett sits stiffly by the fireplace, hands folded in her lap. Celeste won’t meet my eyes.
They’ve planned something Emogen warns
“I know,” I answered Emogen. But I don’t have time to unravel their schemes. The coronation is tomorrow night. I have to stop im
I gather the papers quickly. Tll be taking these to Mr. Grokon first to verify everything is in order.
Without further discussion. I hurry upstairs to pack my belongings. It doesn’t take long. I have little I care to keep from this place. A few personal items, some clothes, and my mother’s jewelry. Everything else I can leave behind.
As I head toward the door with my bag dung over my shoulder, Elian appears before me, blocking my path.
“You’re really going through with this? His voice is quieter now, almost unsure. “You’d leave everything behind? Just like
I tilt my head. “Everything This house, your family? You were always mistaken, Elian. I never belonged here.”
He reaches for my face, tilting his head like he means to kiss me,
“One last kiss?” he murmurs. Nyra looks at him, slightly offended
I slap him so hard that his head snaps to the side.
His jaw tighters, and I see anger return behind his eyes. But he says nothing.
I know he planning something I feel it in my gut. But I have other priorities now,
“Don’t ever try that again” I warn. “Next time, I’ll break your neck”
I step past him and open the door
Outude, a crowd of women stand outside the gates.
s mother asks, peeping from behind her son. I recognize one of the women, the very one who’d sold me the paper earlier. As I step outude the gate, one arm on my bag they start to cheer. “The Red Phantom has returned!”
With you fighting again, our sons and husbands might actually return from battle alive.”
The woman from earlier steps forward. “Seraphine, ride east! Stop the coronation before those leeches take the Beta throne!” Mothers Sisters. Daughters Women who had lost their men to pointless wars. They look at me like I’m their last hope.
I grip the divorce papers in my hand. Tll make good on everything my father promised before his death. I swear it‘
406 PM
Chapter 17 Reclaiming My Sword!
The workshop smells of hot metal and coal, just as I remember. An older man looks up from his anvil as I enter.
“I’m looking for Luna,” I say,
The man sets down his hammer. “Im her father. Luna’s been away at the northern front for three years now.
Finished
I should have expected it. Luna went to battle. For three years, I’ve avoided this part of town. I’ve abandoned who I earlier was, drowning myself in wifely duties. My eyes are stuck staring at my sword. It calls for me. It’s been three years since I used
What would my mother say about this?
“She’d commend you for doing what’s right. We have to get revenge, we have to protect our crown.” Emogen growls,
Luna’s dad follows my line of sight, then smiles with recognition.
“Before Luna left, he says, walking over to retrieve the sword, “she made me promise not to sell this particular blade.” He wipes the dust from the hilt. “She said the most formidable warrior our kingdom has ever known would return for it someday
He offers it to me hilt–first. The moment my fingers close around the grip, a sensation of completeness washes over me.
Finally! Emogen murmurs.
The weight, the balance–it’s an extension of myself I’ve been missing for too long.
“Does this mean the Red Phantom truly returns to us?” Luna’s father asks.
“Yes,” I whisper, testing the edge with my thumb.
“And the Beta throne? Will you take it, as your father did?”
I look up.
“Your father was a good man,” he continues. The only one in the court who ever fought for the people. If it weren’t for him. Alpha King Aldrich would’ve abandoned this pack. Your father was the reason our grievances reached the king. He was the reason we survived”
Luna’s father steps closer. He places a calloused hand over mine on the sword hilt. “Please, Lady Seraphine, the Draven family cannot be allowed to claim the beta throne. The king is but one man, overwhelmed by the crown’s weight. A beta stands between ruler and ruled–interprets the needs of one to the other. If the Dravens take power, they’ll crush us beneath. their boots while whispering poison in the king’s ear”
His voice drops lower. “If the Dravens take that throne, Seraphine, the people might as well be dead. The war won’t even
maller.”
I tighten my grip on the sword, then look at him with nothing but ice in my veins.
“Then I stop them.”
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