Chapter 46 The Wedding Before the End
Dawn fell upon the castle like a weary cloak.
After the crypt, no one truly slept. The corridors were filled with hurried footsteps, whispering healers, soldiers staring at the walls as if waiting for them to breathe again.
I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in thick blankets, watching my hands tremble uncontrollably. I could still feel the touch of the Eraser on my skin—not as pain, but as an empty space my body insisted on remembering.
Conrad knelt before me.
"You don't need to be strong now," he said softly, holding my fingers carefully, as if I might break. "You've already done more than any wolf in this kingdom."
I closed my eyes.
"And yet, he almost took me," I murmured. "If I hadn't forgotten who I was..."
"But you remembered," he interrupted. "Because you're not alone."
Kael entered unannounced. His eyes held a weariness that belied his power.
"The creature didn't cross alone," he said bluntly. "Someone opened the passage from inside the castle."
I felt my stomach clench.
"Steven," I whispered.
Kael nodded slowly.
"He doesn't understand what he summoned. But he's convinced he can control fear."
Conrad stood, his expression hard.
"So the war we tried to avoid has just found us."
I stood too, though my legs were still weak.
The silence that followed my words was heavier than any scream.
Kael walked slowly to the window and observed the inner courtyard, where soldiers were beginning to organize themselves into extra shifts. The kingdom was no longer on vigil. It was on alert.
"When a rift opens from within," he said, without turning around, "it's because someone here has already chosen oblivion as their weapon."
Conrad clenched his fists.
"Then we can't trust the advice anymore."
"Nor the walls," I finished.
I felt the symbol beneath my skin throb differently—not like a call, but like... a warning. As if something had been ripped from me and was now trying to return on its own.
"They won't attack en masse now," Kael continued. "The Eraser that passed through was a scout. A probe. They know you can resist."
"Then they'll come prepared," I murmured.
Kael finally looked at me.
"They'll come to break you from the inside."
The air grew colder again, but there was no wind, no shadows appearing. Just the unsettling feeling that, somewhere beyond the Rift, something had moved in response to what I was.
Conrad approached me and placed his hand on my chest, exactly where the symbol burned.
“If they think they can silence you,” he said firmly, “they don’t understand who they’re dealing with.”
I held his hand, feeling that anchor holding me whole.
“Steven opened the door,” I said. “But he doesn’t know how to close it. And when he realizes what he’s done, it will be too late.”
Kael nodded in agreement.
“He believes he can use fear to save the kingdom. But he’s feeding something that doesn’t recognize kingdoms, hierarchies, or purity.”
I approached the window and stared at the sky. The moon was pale, almost ashamed.
“Then we need to act before he makes another mistake,” I said. “Before more names prove how easy it is to disappear.”
Conrad took a deep breath.
“Where do we begin?”
The symbol answered for me, warming my skin like an invisible map.
“I need to go to the burning forest, where these marks cover the ground.” I answer, looking at the mark on my chest, which was now taking shape. "I need to learn to control my magic. To use dark magic without being dominated by it."
"Let's get ready to go," Conrad replies immediately.
"Actually, the couple is making a big mistake," Kael begins, referring to Conrad and me. "You need to fulfill your marital obligations. You need to be united and blessed by the moon and the kingdom to continue. You are not yet complete and need to resolve this."
Conrad frowned, clearly torn between the urgency of the war and the weight of those words.
“You’re saying that our marriage isn’t just a symbol,” he concluded. “It’s a seal.”
Kael nodded.
“Not the kind you see. But the kind that changes what can be touched,” he explained. “The Moon recognizes pairs. When a bond is formalized, certain forces cease to act as if you were two separate entities.”
My chest tightened.
“So, until we are… whole, I am vulnerable.”
“Not just you,” Kael replied softly. “The entire kingdom.”
The room felt too small for so much truth.
Conrad brought his hand to his face for a moment, as if organizing thoughts he had always avoided.
“This wasn’t in the books,” he murmured.
“Because the books were written by those who never had to choose between love and survival,” Kael countered.
I took a few steps, feeling the symbol pulse in sync with my heart.
“If we do this now,” I began, “it will look like we’re using marriage as a weapon.”
Kael looked at me intensely.
“And if you don’t, the enemy will use his absence against you.”
Conrad approached and cupped my face in his hands.
“I don’t care how it looks,” he said softly. “I care about you staying alive.”
I closed my eyes for a second, resting my forehead against his.
“I also care about what we are,” I whispered.
Kael cleared his throat, respectful but firm.
“The ritual can be simple,” he explained. “It’s not a party, it’s not a crown, it’s not politics. It’s recognition. Of the Moon. Of the ancients. And of the two of you.”
“And Steven?” I asked, feeling the name burn on my tongue. “He’ll try to stop it.”
“He’s already trying.” Kael answered. “But you still haven’t realized you’re no longer in control.”
The distant sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, accompanied by tense voices.
Conrad squeezed my hand.
“Then let’s not give him time,” he said. “We’ll do it at dawn.”
I looked at the moon through the window, still pale, still wounded.
“No,” I corrected. “We’ll do it before it hides completely.”
The symbol on my chest shone brighter, as if approving the decision.
We would be united in the midst of a war that had barely begun, not by tradition, but by necessity. Kael left in silence, taking with him the secrets he never dared to write.
Conrad intertwined my fingers with his, as if that gesture were already the first vow.
Outside, the castle breathed in fits and starts, and I felt each pulse of the symbol as a reminder that there was no turning back. Steven believed he could control oblivion, but oblivion never obeys anyone.
By choosing Conrad that morning, I wasn't just becoming queen; I was becoming a frontier. Between what could still be saved and what had already been condemned. And, for the first time, I understood that love is also a form of resistance.