The Royal Keeper

The Royal Keeper
\- Lyra’s POV -
Three days passed since that night in Prince Maximus’ chamber, yet I could still feel his warmth against me. His eyes haunted me, those burning golden eyes... Every time I closed mine, I saw him again, too close, too intense, and my heart betrayed me with the way it raced.
I should not think about him. He was dangerous, a prince, someone I could never reach... I'm too young for him... he would never dare to look at me as a woman but a child.
However, more than that, there was something else gnawing at me.
The whispers in my dreams that felt like they came from someone beyond this world...
If the Moon Goddess was truly my mother, why did my life feel like this? Why was I abandoned, weak, treated like I was nothing? Why would a mother, a goddess, allow her child to suffer?
She couldn't be my mother.
That question tore me apart until I could no longer sit still.
So I returned to the one place I thought might hold answers. The Library. 
I was already completely healed, Miraine is a great healer, as if she knew what I needed. 
I slipped through the halls as quietly as I could, wrapping my thin shawl tight around me. The guards did not notice, or maybe I was just lucky. My heart pounded as I pushed the heavy doors open and slid inside.
The library was silent. Rows of towering shelves stretched endlessly, their shadows long in the flickering candlelight. It smelled the same... old parchment and dust, of secrets too ancient to speak aloud.
I prayed the prince was not here again. If he saw me, if he caught me searching, I did not know what excuse I could give. My legs trembled, but I pushed myself deeper between the shelves, searching for anything that spoke of the Moon Goddess.
I trailed my fingers across the spines of the books, whispering to myself. "Please… there has to be something here. Something to guide me for finding myself."
"Are you looking for this?"
I froze. My heart raced loudly when a voice cut through the silence.
Slowly, I turned, and my breath stuck in my throat.
A man stood a few steps away. He was tall and slender, his black hair falling loosely over his shoulders. His robes were deep blue, embroidered with silver symbols that seemed older than the palace itself. His face was calm, his eyes a strange pale green, sharp and watchful, as if they saw through me in a single glance.
He held a book in his hands. Its leather cover was worn, the title etched faintly in silver: Legends of the Moon Goddess.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
The man tilted his head slightly, his expression was unreadable. "You have been here before, haven’t you?"
I swallowed hard. Fear tangled with confusion. "How… how did you know that?"
For a moment, I thought he might accuse me, or drag me out of the library. But instead, he closed the book gently and stepped closer. His movements were slow, deliberate, almost like a shadow gliding through the candlelight.
“Lyra, right?” he asked, his voice low but steady, as if he already knew the answer and only wanted to hear it from me.
My lips parted, yet no words came out. All I could do was nod.
"I am Eryndor," he said, carrying a strange weight. "Royal Scholar and keeper of this library. I notice a lot of things. Including you."
My heart leapt to my throat. "M-me..?"
Eryndor nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. "Yes. The questions you carry in your heart, and the way the air itself bends when you enter."
I froze. "What do you mean?"
He did not answer at once. Instead, he studied me, his gaze was almost too intense. Then, with a small sigh, he offered the book to me.
"Take it. Perhaps it will give you the answers you seek."
My trembling hands reached out, brushing against his fingers as I accepted it. A shiver ran through me, though his touch was not warm like... Maximus’. It was cold, like water from a deep well.
I hugged the book to my chest, staring at him. "Why… why are you helping me?"
For the first time, his lips curved in the faintest smile. "Because the moment I first saw you, I knew."
"Knew... knew what?" My voice was barely a whisper.
His pale eyes glinted with something unreadable. "Lyra, a divine blood runs in your veins. I can sense it. It was stronger than anything I have felt in this palace for many years."
My breath caught, and my knees felt weak. "Divine… blood?" 
What does he mean by it?
He inclined his head slightly. "You are not ordinary, Lyra. And I think... you have already know that."
The room seemed to spin. I clutched the book tighter, my heart racing so fast I thought it would burst.
His words didn’t make sense, yet every time I remembered the moment I killed those vampires with the glowing light coursing through my body… it all began to fall into place.
Still, I wanted to deny it, but my voice would not come out.
Eryndor took another step back, giving me space. His voice softened, though it still carried its strange weight. "Do not be afraid. I will not tell anyone."
My eyes snapped up at him. "Why..? Why are you doing this for me?"
For a moment, silence hung between us. Then Eryndor’s gaze shifted, faraway, almost like he was seeing something beyond me.
"Because," he said slowly, "Lyra, when I saw you with the Crown Prince, I saw more than sparks between you. There was an invisible thread, binding you together. I do not know what fate intends, but I knew… the moment I saw it, I understood that a greater purpose brought you here."
My breath quickened, my stomach twisting. A thread? Binding me and... the Prince?
I shook my head, clutching the book as if it were the only thing holding me up. "No… that cannot be."
Eryndor’s eyes softened with something almost like pity. "You cannot run from what the gods have tied. You can only prepare yourself for when the truth arrives."
He bowed his head slightly, his expression calm again. "Read the book. Perhaps it will guide you."
Before I could respond, he turned and walked away, his robes brushing softly against the stone floor. His figure disappeared into the shadows between the shelves, leaving me alone with my pounding heart.
I looked down at the book in my hands. Its cover was heavy, and cold.
Was the Moon Goddess truly my mother?
If so… why did my life feel cursed?
And what was this thread between me and the prince?
The questions burned inside me, heavier than ever. But one thing was certain.
Nothing about my life was ordinary.