Chapter 254 CHAPTER 254

Chapter 254 CHAPTER 254
Ethan slowed as he stepped into the clearing, his boots pressing softly against the earth while his eyes searched ahead of him. The sounds around him had quieted, the earlier chaos replaced by something steadier, but he didn’t seem to notice any of it. His attention moved past the guards, past the rescued boys, until it stopped.

She stood there.

Queen Helena Elyra Ashvale – his mother.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

His shoulders rose slightly with a breath he didn’t finish, his hand tightening at his side as if grounding himself in something real. The distance between them wasn’t far, but he didn’t close it immediately. His gaze stayed on her, taking her in slowly, as if he needed to be sure she wouldn’t disappear if he blinked.

“...Mother?”

The word came out quieter than expected.

Helena’s breath caught, her fingers curling slightly before she stepped forward. She didn’t rush, but there was no hesitation in her movement now.

“Ethan baby….” she whispered, her voice shaking.

He crossed the distance in a few quick steps, reaching her before she could take another. 

His arms came around her quickly, pulling her into him as if letting go wasn’t something he could even consider. 

For a second, his grip tightened—and then it shifted. His hand spread across her back, and he stilled, his breath catching as he felt how little there was to hold. 

She fit into him too easily, her frame light against his, fragile in a way that made his hold change without thinking, one arm drawing her closer, more careful now, as if he was afraid even his strength might be too much.

“I’m sorry….” he started, his voice breaking before the words could finish.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner.” He sobbed.

Helena’s hands came up around him immediately, one settling against the back of his head, the other pressing between his shoulders as she held him close.

“You did well, you found Lisa and I,” she said softly. “That’s what matters.”

Ethan’s grip tightened.

“I missed you,” he said, his voice uneven now, each word pulled out from somewhere deeper than he had allowed himself to go in years. 

Helena closed her eyes briefly, her fingers tightening slightly in his hair. “I know,” she repeated, her voice steadier than his, but not untouched.

He pulled back just enough to look at her, his hands still holding her arms as if he needed to keep contact.

Ethan’s jaw tightened slightly, his eyes searching hers, trying to hold onto both the past and the present at once.

“I thought I lost you,” he said.

Helena lifted her hand, resting it gently against his cheek as tears streamed down her own. “You didn’t,” she said. “You just had to wait longer than you should have – I’m sorry.”

He leaned into her hand for a second, his eyes closing briefly before opening again.

“Don’t ever leave me alone.”

There was no hesitation this time.

“Never,” she whispered.

Ethan nodded once, as if that single word was enough to settle something inside him that had been restless for years.

Behind them, the clearing remained still, the others watching quietly, giving the moment space.

A few steps away, Isabel stood with her arms loosely folded, her gaze resting on them. Her chest rose slowly as she watched the way Ethan held Helena, the way his shoulders shifted with each breath, the way something heavy seemed to loosen in him without needing to be spoken.

Then something else moved through her.

It wasn’t hers.

The feeling came suddenly, deep and steady, catching her off guard. It wasn’t just relief. It was layered with something older, something that had waited too long to be felt fully.

Her hand lifted slightly to her chest.

She stilled.

Her gaze moved back to Ethan.

He hadn’t looked at her.

But she felt him.

Clearer now.

The weight in his chest. The quiet release. The warmth that came with it, unfamiliar but not unwelcome.

Her breath shifted slightly.

She lowered her hand slowly, her fingers brushing against her palm as if trying to steady something she didn’t understand yet.

Jocelyn, standing beside her with her hand resting on Isabel’s shoulder, glanced at her briefly. “You okay honey?” she asked softly.

Isabel nodded once. “Yeah,” she said, though her eyes didn’t leave Ethan. “Just… a lot.”

Jocelyn followed her gaze, then looked back at her with a small, knowing expression, but didn’t press further.

Across the clearing, Ethan stepped back slightly from Helena, his hands still resting on her arms as if making sure she was still there.

“There’s so much I need to tell you,” he said.

Helena held his gaze for a second longer, then nodded.

“We have all the time in the world.” she said.

Ethan exhaled slowly, his shoulders easing slightly before his attention shifted around the clearing, taking in the others now—Lisa, Sebastian, Isabel, Jocelyn.

His gaze paused briefly when it reached Isabel.

Just a second longer than necessary.

Something quiet passed through his expression.

Lisa stepped closer, her eyes moving between them. “You’re both okay?” she asked.

Ethan nodded. “We are now,” he said with a smile.

Helena’s hand brushed lightly against Lisa’s arm again, grounding herself in both of them.

“We should leave,” one of the guards said. “It’s not safe to stay here. We don’t know what Seraphine and the young witch might still be planning.”

Ethan’s gaze lifted slightly, his expression settling into something quieter.

“You don’t have to worry about Seraphine,” he said.

A few heads turned.

“As we were coming here from Darius’ camp,” he continued, “we found her body. Abandoned in the woods.”

The words settled without noise.

“Looks like she had more enemies than she thought,” he added.

A brief silence followed.

Then Liam exhaled lightly. “It’s been a long night,” he said. “We should head back to Mooncrest.”

Ethan nodded once.

His gaze shifted back to his mother.

For a second, he didn’t speak.

Then…

“Are you ready to go back?” he asked. “To your kingdom… Queen Helena of Mooncrest?”

Helena stilled.

The title rested differently than it used to.

Her gaze moved over him, then past him, toward everything that had been lost… and found again.

A faint smile touched her lips.

She nodded.

“It’s been a while,” she said.