Chapter 7 GHOST OF A MOTHER
ELARA
"You're lying."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them. Flat. Dead. Like someone else was speaking through me.
Lysander's expression didn't change. Still pitying. Still gentle. "I'm not. The message came from a Light Court defector."
"My mother is dead." My voice rose. "She died when I was five. My father said..."
"Your father lied to protect you."
The courtyard tilted. Or maybe I did. Kaelix's hand shot out, steadying me.
"Show me," I demanded. "The message. Show me now."
Lysander produced a scroll from his robes. Blood-sealed. The Light Court crest stamped in gold.
My hands shook as I broke the seal.
To the Shadow Lord and his little mongrel pet,
I have something you want. Aria of the Wild Court. Still alive. Barely.
The words blurred. I blinked hard.
Seventeen years in my dungeons have not been kind. But she lives. For now.
Come claim her. Three days. The Light Court palace. Come alone, little mongrel, or I'll send you pieces of her. Starting with her fingers.
Don't test me. I've waited seventeen years for this.
\- Seraphine
Something fell from the scroll. A lock of hair.
Auburn. The exact shade of mine.
I picked it up with trembling fingers. Soft. Real. It smelled faintly of lavender and earth.
My mother always smelled like lavender.
I'd forgotten that until this moment.
"No," I whispered. "She's dead. She died of fever. Quick and merciful. My father told me..."
"He lied." Kaelix's voice was too gentle. "To keep you safe."
"Safe from what?"
"From this. From knowing she was alive and trying to save her."
The scroll slipped through my fingers.
"Seventeen years."
"Elara..."
"SEVENTEEN YEARS!" The scream tore from my throat. "She's been alive... suffering... and I didn't know. I mourned her. I moved on. And she was there the whole time!"
Magic exploded from my body.
Not vines this time. Pure rage made manifest. The ground cracked. Black roses erupted everywhere, hundreds of them, thorns like daggers, petals like blood.
"I should have known," I choked out. "She's my mother. My blood. Shouldn't I have felt it?"
"You were a child," Kaelix said. "You couldn't..."
"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!"
More roses. More thorns. They grew taller than me now. A forest of grief and rage.
"Elara." Kaelix moved toward me carefully. "You need to breathe."
"Don't tell me what I need!" I backed away.
"Everyone always tells me what I need. What I should do. What I should feel. But nobody asked me if I wanted my mother to be dead! Nobody asked if I wanted to spend seventeen years thinking she was gone when she was suffering!"
My legs gave out.
Kaelix caught me before I hit the ground.
Pulled me against his chest.
And I broke.
Really broke.
Ugly, gasping sobs that felt like they'd been trapped inside me since I was five years old. Since the day my father told me my mother was gone and I had to be brave.
I'd been brave for seventeen years.
I was done being brave.
"I've got you," Kaelix murmured. His hand moved through my hair. Awkward. Uncertain. Like he wasn't sure what to do with a sobbing woman. "I've got you."
"She's alive," I sobbed into his shirt. "How could he lie? How could he let me think..."
"He was protecting you. If you'd known, you would have tried to find her. They would have captured you too."
"I don't care! I should have known!"
"And what would you have done?" His voice was firm now. "At five years old? At ten? Fifteen? You couldn't have saved her."
The truth of that hurt worse than anything.
Because he was right.
I couldn't have saved her then.
But now...
"I'm going to get her out," I said. Voice still shaking but determined. "I'm going to the Light Court."
"It's a trap."
"I don't care."
"Elara..."
"My mother is alive. Prisoner. Because Seraphine is using her to get to me." I pulled back, met his eyes. "So fine. She can have me. I'm coming."
"You'll die."
"Maybe. But at least I'll die trying instead of living knowing I didn't."
"We need a plan."
"We have three days."
"That's not enough..."
"It'll have to be."
We stared at each other. The bond carried our emotions, my desperation, his fear.
"You can't stop me," I said quietly.
"I know." His hand cupped my face. Wiped away tears. "But I can come with you."
"Why?"
"Because the bond won't let me stay behind." He paused. "And because I don't want to."
Something in my chest loosened. "It's suicide."
"Probably."
"We'll die."
"Maybe."
"Then why help me?"
"Because watching you break hurts worse than facing Seraphine ever could."
New tears threatened. Different ones.
"I thought you didn't have a heart," I whispered.
"So did I." His smile was sad. "You're making me reconsider."
A sound made us both turn.
Queen Morwenna still stood at the courtyard entrance. Watching. Waiting.
I'd forgotten she was there.
"I failed her," Morwenna said quietly. "Aria. My daughter. I failed to protect her. Failed to save her." She looked at me. "I won't fail you too."
"You don't even know me."
"I know you're her daughter. I know you have her eyes. Her courage. Her stubborn refusal to accept defeat." Morwenna stepped closer.
"And I know that if you walk into that palace alone, you'll die just like she almost did."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"We go together. Shadow and Wild united. We plan. We strategize. And we bring her home."
I looked at Kaelix. "Can we do this?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "It's dangerous."
"I know."
"We could all die."
"I know."
"But we'll try anyway." Not a question. A statement.
"We have to."
He nodded once. "Then we plan. Now."
The war room filled quickly.
Lysander brought maps. Ravyn arrived with warriors. Morwenna's Wild Court forces joined. The room buzzed with tension and purpose.
I stood at the table, staring at the map of the Light Court palace.
Golden spires. Impossible walls. A fortress.
"The main entrance is suicide," Ravyn said.
"Triple guards. Magical barriers."
"Supply tunnels?" Lysander suggested.
"Collapsed three years ago," Morwenna countered. "I checked."
"Then we create a distraction," Kaelix said. "Draw forces away."
"And if they don't take the bait?"
"Then we fight our way in."
They kept talking. Planning. Arguing.
I stared at the map.
At the dungeons marked in the center. Deep underground. Where prisoners were kept.
Where my mother had spent seventeen years.
"What if we don't sneak in?" I said.
Everyone looked at me.
"What if I just... walk in the front door?"
"That's suicide," Ravyn said flatly.
"Is it? Or is it so obvious they won't see it coming?" I met Kaelix's eyes. "Seraphine expects me to come crawling. Desperate. What if I don't? What if I request a formal audience instead?"
Silence.
Then Morwenna laughed. "Bold. Reckless. Just like Aria."
"It's insane," Lysander protested.
"Most good plans are," I countered. "We request an audience. Bring a delegation. Official. Diplomatic."
"She'll know it's a trap."
"Of course she will. But she'll take the meeting anyway. Because she's arrogant. And because she wants to gloat."
Kaelix studied me. "You're serious."
"Completely."
"She'll have dozens of guards. Magical barriers. Escape routes blocked."
"Then we'll need to be smarter than her."
Something shifted in his expression. Respect. Pride.
"Alright," he said. "We try it your way."
Morwenna smiled. "I can arrange the audience request. The Wild Court still has... diplomatic channels with the Light Court."
"How long?"
"A day. Maybe two. Just enough time to prepare."
Plans formed. Details hammered out. Roles assigned.
By the time dawn broke fully, we had something resembling a strategy.
Dangerous. Impossible. But a strategy.
As the others filed out to prepare, Kaelix pulled me aside.
"That was impressive," he said quietly.
"What?"
"Taking charge. Making a plan. Commanding a room of warriors and nobles twice your age."
"I thought I was being reckless."
"You were. But you were also right." His hand found mine. "Seraphine expects desperation. You're giving her confidence instead. It might just work."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then we die together." He said it matter-of-factly. "But I'd rather die fighting beside you than watch you break from grief."
The words settled between us. Heavy. True.
"Three days," I said.
"Three days."
"Are you scared?"
"Terrified." His honesty surprised me. "But more scared of losing you than of Seraphine."
I squeezed his hand. "Then we don't lose. We fight. We win. We bring my mother home."
"Together."
"Together."
Through the bond, I felt his determination matching mine.
We'd walk into that palace.
We'd face Seraphine.
We'd rescue my mother.
Or we'd die trying.
But we'd do it together.
And somehow, that made the impossible feel almost achievable.