Chapter 128 The Cathedral Flash
The morning air cut like knives against exposed skin. Lila stood in the training yard, her breath misting in front of her face. The binding around her ribs restricted her movements slightly, but Keal had cleared her to resume light training.
"Today we focus on reactive defense," Keal announced to the small group of warriors. "Your body should respond before your mind recognizes the threat. Instinct over thought."
He demonstrated a series of movements. Fluid and precise. A defensive stance that flowed into a counter-strike, then back to ready position.
"This is an old technique. Royal guard, specifically designed for protecting dignitaries in close quarters. Small movements. Maximum efficiency." Keal turned to Lila. "Lady Lila, you'll practice with me. The rest of you, pair off."
The warriors dispersed. Lila approached Keal, her stomach tight with nerves.
"I don't know that sequence."
"Your body might. Let's find out." Keal moved into position. "I'm going to attack slowly. Don't think. Just react."
He lunged forward, his strike deliberately telegraphed. Lila's mind went blank with panic. Her conscious thought stuttered, trying to remember which way to move, how to block.
But her body knew.
She shifted her weight, turned her hip, redirected his arm with her forearm. Her other hand came up in a palm strike that stopped inches from his chest. Her foot swept behind his ankle, ready to unbalance him.
The entire sequence took less than two seconds.
Keal stepped back, eyes wide. "That was perfect. Exactly right. Where did you learn that?"
"I didn't. I just..." Lila stared at her hands, trembling in their defensive position. "I don't know."
"Again. Faster this time."
Keal attacked. Lila's body responded. The movements flowed like water, each action triggering the next instinctively.
Then something shifted.
The training yard dissolved. Lila stood somewhere else entirely.
A cathedral, a massive and ancien cathedral with sunlight streaming through stained glass windows, painting the floor in brilliant colors. The air was thick with the scent of flowers. White roses, lilies, gardenias and so many flowers, it was almost suffocating.
People filled the pews. Hundreds of them. Nobles in fine clothes. Warriors in dress uniforms. Everyone watching the altar where a ceremony was taking place.
A wedding.
Celeste stood there in white silk, her golden hair crowned with diamonds. She looked like a fairytale. Perfect and radiant. Everything a queen should be.
And beside her stood Adrian.
He was younger in this memory. Less hardened. His face hadn't yet been carved into the harsh lines of the king Lila knew now. But his eyes were the same. Ice-blue and intense.
The priest's voice droned on. Words about unity and duty and eternal bonds. Celeste smiled. Adrian's expression remained neutral.
Then he turned. Just slightly. His eyes swept the assembled crowd.
And met Lila's.
The impact was physical and electric. Every nerve in Lila's body ignited simultaneously. Her wolf surged forward with desperate joy, howling a truth that shattered everything.
“Mine. Mate. Ours.“
Adrian's eyes widened. His nostrils flared. For three heartbeats, they stared at each other across the cathedral while everyone else faded to background noise.
Lila saw recognition in his face. Saw his hands clench into fists. Saw the moment he felt the bond snap into place between them, irrevocable and absolute.
Then his expression went blank. Cold. He turned back to Celeste and continued the ceremony as if nothing had happened.
But everything had happened. The Moon Goddess had chosen them for each other. And neither of them could act on it because he was marrying her sister.
"Lila!"
The vision shattered. Lila found herself on her knees in the training yard, gasping for air. Keal crouched beside her, his hand on her shoulder, concern etched on his face.
"What happened? You went completely still. Your eyes were unfocused."
"I remembered." The words came out broken. "The cathedral, the wedding... I was there when Adrian married Celeste. And I felt..." She couldn't finish, couldn't explain the overwhelming rightness mixed with wrongness that had flooded through her.
"The bond." Keal's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "You felt the bond form."
Lila nodded, tears streaming down her face. "He's my mate. Adrian is my mate. And I watched him marry my sister."
Keal glanced around quickly. The other warriors were focused on their own training, no one close enough to overhear. He helped Lila to her feet, supporting her weight as her legs threatened to give out.
"Training is over," he called to the group. "Continue drills on your own. Lady Lila needs medical attention."
He guided her away from the yard, toward the shelter of the armory where they could speak privately. Once inside, he helped her sit on a bench.
"The memories are breaking through faster than I expected. The physical training is working, but the emotional shock..." Keal removed his glasses, cleaning them absently. "Lila, you need to be careful. These memories are traumatic. They're returning in fragments, which makes them harder to process."
"I don't care if they hurt. I need to remember all of it." Lila wiped her face roughly. "The journal Maya found, it talked about the bond. About three years of torture watching Adrian with Celeste. But reading about it and remembering it are different. Feeling it again..." She pressed a hand to her chest. "It's like reopening a wound that never healed."
"I know. But the memories are crucial. Somewhere in your past is the key to understanding what happened. Who altered your memories. Who killed Queen Celeste. Why you and the King were forced apart." Keal replaced his glasses. "The training will continue. Your body is the pathway to unlocking your mind. But we need to be strategic about it. Controlled environments. Specific triggers."
"Does Adrian know? That the memories are returning?"
Keal hesitated. "He knows it's possible. But I haven't told him specifics about what you're remembering. That's your information to share when you're ready."
Lila nodded slowly. "Good. I need to understand it all myself before I face him with it. Right now, everything's confused. Jumbled. I feel things I don't fully understand."
"That's normal. Give yourself time to process." Keal stood. "Rest today. Tomorrow we'll try again. Different triggers, different techniques. We'll find your memories piece by piece."
"Keal?" Lila's voice stopped him at the door. "Thank you. For helping me. For believing there's something worth finding in my broken mind."
"Your mind isn't broken. It's been locked. There's a difference." Keal's expression softened. "And you're welcome. Just... be careful. The closer you get to the truth, the more danger you might be in. Someone buried those memories for a reason."
He left her alone in the armory. Lila sat in silence, her mind replaying the cathedral memory over and over.
Adrian's eyes meeting hers. The bond forming. The absolute certainty that they belonged together.
And then him turning away. Marrying Celeste. Choosing duty over destiny.
No wonder everything between them was broken. No wonder his eyes held such pain and rage when he looked at her. He remembered. He'd always remembered. And he'd been forced to hate her for something neither of them could control.
Lila's hands clenched. Someone had done this. Someone had looked at two people chosen by the Moon Goddess and decided that wasn't acceptable. Had torn them apart, stolen memories, caused years of suffering.
She would find out who. And she would make them answer for it.