Chapter 215 CHAPTER 215
The journey to Silverpine was quiet.
No one spoke as they moved through the forest, the guards carrying the weight of what they had brought with them, not just in their hands, but in the air that followed them. Even the wind seemed to move more slowly, as though it understood what was being returned.
Liam Blackthorne walked ahead of them, his expression steady, but his thoughts heavy. He had seen death before. He had faced it, fought it, walked through it. But this was different.
This was not battle.
This was aftermath.
When they reached Silverpine, word had already spread.
Mara and Leonard were waiting.
They did not rush forward.
They stood there, side by side, as though moving any closer would make it real in a way they were not ready to face.
Liam approached them slowly.
“We have brought him back,” he said, his voice low and respectful. “And with him, the condolences of the king.”
The words felt small compared to the loss standing before him.
Mara’s eyes moved past Liam, searching the figures behind him, searching for something she had not seen in years.
“Where is he?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Liam paused.
Then he spoke carefully.
“It would be better… if you remembered him as he was,” he said. “The condition of the body… it will not give you peace.”
The silence that followed was heavy.
Mara stared at him, the meaning of his words settling slowly, painfully.
“You mean…” her voice broke, “…we cannot even see him?”
Liam did not look away.
“He has been gone for some time,” he said gently. “What remains… will not be the boy you remember.”
Mara let out a broken sound, her hand coming up to her mouth as tears spilled freely down her cheeks.
“I don’t even remember his face,” she cried. “It has been so long… so long since she took him from us. And now… now I cannot even see him one last time?”
Leonard placed a trembling hand on her shoulder, though his own composure was barely holding.
“She made sure of it,” Mara continued through her tears. “She made sure that even in death… we would not have him back.”
The grief that settled over them was not loud.
It was deep.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
The ceremony was held at the park cemetery, the same place where families gathered for moments that were meant to be remembered with peace. Today, there was no peace.
Only closure.
Or something that tried to resemble it.
The elders were absent. Their place remained empty, a silent reminder of how much had changed. In their stead, Mason stood at the front, his voice steady as he led the ceremony, though the weight of responsibility showed in the way he carried himself.
Words were spoken.
Prayers were made.
But none of it could fill the space left behind.
When it ended, the crowd slowly dispersed, leaving behind only those who could not yet walk away.
Mara and Leonard approached Liam quietly.
“Thank you,” Leonard said, his voice low, worn. “For bringing him back to us.”
“It was the least we could do,” Liam replied.
Mara nodded faintly, though her eyes were still distant.
“At least now we know,” she said. “At least now… we can stop waiting.”
Leonard hesitated, then lowered his voice slightly.
“There is something else,” he said. “Mason told us not to speak of it, but… we need to ask.”
Liam’s attention sharpened.
“The family that was hidden in our house,” Leonard continued. “Was that her doing again?”
Mara’s expression tightened. “Is she… still taking people? Still forcing them to do things?”
Liam considered his response carefully.
“We are still investigating,” he said. “I cannot say for certain yet.”
Leonard nodded slowly, though the concern did not leave his face.
Then Liam spoke again.
“When Sarah was living with you,” he asked, “did she have any visitors? Anyone who came often?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“No,” Mara said. “She was careful. Too careful. She did not want anyone to notice what was happening in that house. She kept everything contained.”
Leonard added quietly, “No friends. No visitors.”
Liam’s thoughts shifted.
Then Mara’s expression changed slightly, as though something had just come back to her.
“Wait,” she said slowly. “There was… someone.”
Liam’s gaze fixed on her.
“Who?”
“Anna Hale,” Mara said. “Toward the end, before Sarah disappeared, they had grown close. She would come in the evenings sometimes, and they would spend time together in Sarah’s room. And Sarah would visit her as well.”
Something in Liam’s expression stilled.
“Are you certain?” he asked.
Mara nodded. “Yes.”
Leonard added, “It wasn’t often at first, but toward the end… it became more frequent.”
Liam nodded once.
“Thank you,” he said.
They stepped back, leaving him standing there as the weight of that information settled into place, heavy and unyielding.
Anna.
The name did not come to him lightly. It came layered, threaded with everything he already knew and everything that no longer felt like coincidence. She was the same Anna Sebastian had spoken of—the one who had uncovered Sarah’s truth, the one who had seen through the illusion when no one else had. She was also the same girl who had once lived under the same roof as Lisa, back when Lisa was still Cindy, back when that house had not yet revealed how cruel it could be. A girl who had not just been a sister in name, but one who had carried resentment, quiet and sharp toward Lisa.
And now, she was also being placed, piece by piece, into yet another connection.
She had known Sarah.
Not distantly. Not in passing.
Closely enough to visit her. Closely enough to be welcomed into her space.
Liam’s gaze hardened slightly as the thought took clearer shape in his mind. Could all of this truly be coincidence? Or was there something here he had failed to see, something hidden beneath what everyone had accepted as truth?
Anna stood at the center of too many threads.
A past tied to Lisa. A connection to Sarah. A presence within Lunaris.
And now, a motive that could no longer be ignored.
If resentment had lingered, if anger had taken root deeper than anyone realized, then it would not be impossible. Not unthinkable. Not beyond reach.
Could she have been involved in the attempt to take Lisa?
Could this have been something more than chance?
The thought did not settle easily, but it refused to leave.
The thought did not sit right.
It did not fit cleanly.
And yet…
It refused to leave.
Liam exhaled slowly, his gaze lifting as movement caught his attention.
Not far from the cemetery, Anna walked beside Hilda, both of them heading away from the ceremony.
For a moment, Liam simply watched them.
Then…
He moved.
“Anna,” he called out.
They both stopped.
Slowly, they turned.
“I need a moment of your time,” Liam said.
Something flickered across their faces.
Not fear.
But something close enough to make the air shift.
And Liam noticed it.