Chapter 37– Flame and Whisper
Chapter 37– Flame and Whisper
The dawn sky over Moonridge was streaked in cold silver, the peaks still wearing veils of frost as Cassian stared out from his tower balcony. His jaw was tight, arms braced against the stone, the weight of too many secrets pressing into his spine.
Inside, Roran waited silently, watching his Alpha wrestle with something unsaid.
Finally, Cassian turned.
“I want you to take a message to Blackridge.”
Roran blinked. “To Thalia?”
Cassian gave a single nod. “This will be the first time she hears from me since the Flame took her. But it’s time.”
“You sure that’s wise?”
“No,” Cassian admitted. “But it’s necessary.”
He crossed the chamber and reached for a sealed scroll from his desk, marked with the Moonridge crest. The wax shimmered faintly beneath the lamplight.
Roran accepted the scroll with a solemn nod. “I’ll leave now. If I ride fast, I’ll reach them before nightfall.”
Cassian placed a hand on his shoulder. “Tell her everything. Not just the danger. Tell her I never stopped guarding her. Even from here.”
\---
The sun dipped low behind the cliffs of Blackridge as the bells of the temple began to chime, announcing the start of the Flame Devotional.
A ceremony once exclusive to the Luna Flame had been stretched thin over the years, filled instead with stand-ins and sycophants, rituals hollowed of meaning. But now, for the first time in more than a decade, the rightful Luna would stand at the altar again.
Thalia stood in ceremonial black and crimson robes, the Ryker family crest embroidered across her shoulders. Her Flame ring pulsed faintly beneath her sleeve as she moved toward the dais beneath the great fire brazier.
The scent of cedar and ember clung to the walls, and around her, nobles and high clerics whispered in awe.
But standing already at the altar, head bowed as if in reverence was Anastasia.
Thalia’s steps slowed.
From behind her, Kaelion leaned in. “She wasn’t on the schedule.”
“No,” Thalia murmured. “But I’d wager Drevyn had something to do with that.”
Veyr, just behind her, didn’t speak, but his hand flexed instinctively toward his belt.
The High Cleric raised his staff. “By the council’s blessing, we welcome both Ladies in service of the Flame—Lady Thalia, marked by sacred fire, and Lady Anastasia, heir of the honored Fetyer bloodline.”
The crowd stirred.
Thalia’s brow twitched. Lady. Not Luna.
She stepped forward, voice clear and sharp. “There is one Luna Flame.”
The words hung in the air like a thrown dagger.
Even the High Cleric hesitated.
Anastasia turned, smile taut. “I was asked to bless the warriors heading to Eastern Ridge.”
“And did the Flame ask you?” Thalia asked smoothly.
A long pause.
Elder Drevyn stepped forward from the crowd, smile like silk on stone. “Tradition has long welcomed voices of honor. Lady Anastasia studied sacred rites when we had no Luna. She serves.”
“There is a difference,” Thalia replied, “between service and substitution.”
The High Cleric wisely stepped back.
Thalia walked forward, past Anastasia, and lifted her hand above the altar. The moment her Flame ring neared the brazier, the fire inside surged. It bent toward her like it recognized its source.
A gust swept the room, rustling robes and extinguishing a few side torches. Gasps rippled through the assembly.
“May your paths be clear,” Thalia intoned, “and your scent never masked. The Flame walks with you—not behind. Not beneath. With you.”
She stepped back.
The fire crackled violently for a moment longer, then settled, still whispering her name.
Anastasia stepped up next. She lifted her hand, held it above the flame.
Nothing.
Still, she smiled and gave her blessing. But her words sounded distant, outmatched.
\---
Outside, in the colonnade courtyard, nobles lingered in clusters, their murmurs sharp with speculation.
Thalia stood at the eastern wall, watching them.
Elder Nyra approached first, her voice syrup-sweet. “A beautiful ceremony, Luna Thalia.”
Another noble added, “Though it seems not all were prepared for your… presence.”
“I’m not here to be decorative,” Thalia said, tone cool. “The Flame doesn’t need ornaments.”
Nyra’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes glinted. “Anastasia meant no insult. She’s served the temple loyally for years.”
“And yet,” Thalia replied evenly, “the Flame never chose her.”
Before Nyra could speak again, Veyr appeared at Thalia’s side.
“Luna,” he said, offering a scroll with the Moonridge crest. “A courier just arrived. From Alpha Cassian.”
Thalia took it without a word and turned away from the murmuring nobles.
\---
Inside the temple’s west corridor, shielded by stone and silence, Kaelion and Veyr stood nearby as Thalia unsealed the scroll.
Her eyes scanned the parchment slowly.
Cassian’s handwriting was tight, rushed.
> Thalia,
I write this not as a request, but as a warning.
Two nights from now, during my patrol, they plan to stage a rogue attack.
It won’t be random. It will be assassination. Elira, Gabriel, Verin, Alpha Jason.
They all play a part.
Elira will try to claim the Moonridge Luna seat in my absence.
But she knows you're my true mate. That your presence still casts a shadow over her claim.
I respected your decision to choose Blackridge. I still do.
But I won’t die without giving you the truth.
Stay vigilant.
– Cassian
Thalia read it twice, then lowered it slowly.
Kaelion was the first to speak. “Is it credible?”
Thalia’s voice was flat. “He wouldn’t lie about this. Not to me.”
Veyr stepped closer. “You think Elira sees you as a threat?”
“I’m not her rival. Not for that throne.” Thalia folded the scroll. “But I’m the mate she can never erase. And if Cassian dies, she’ll have an opening.”
Kaelion scowled. “You should prepare a statement.”
“No,” Thalia said. “Not yet. Let them believe I’m unaware.”
Her gaze flicked to Veyr.
He was watching her, not the scroll but her. Like he was trying to see past the title, the fire, the weight of it all.
“You’re worried,” she said softly.
“I’m always worried when someone tries to write you out of your own legacy.”
Something shifted in his voice. A weight he didn’t often show.
“You care,” Thalia said.
Veyr looked away. “I try not to.”
She smiled, just faintly. “But you do.”
“I’ll have your guard doubled,” he said. “Quietly. Let them think you’re playing court games while we prepare the field.”
Thalia handed the scroll to Kaelion.
“I'll think about what to do.”