Chapter 20 The Journal of Blood
The room felt strangely cold, as if the walls themselves knew that Sienna’s hands were about to touch something far older than her. She stood at the small desk, her fingers hovering over the leather-bound journal that lay in front of her. The moment her hand made contact, a strange jolt shot through her arm, like the pulse of a heartbeat, one that wasn’t her own.
"Are you sure you want to open it?" Harvey’s voice broke the silence, his usual calm now tinged with something close to fear. He was standing by the doorway, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, watching her with a keen, wary gaze.
“Mom… knew this would happen,” she muttered to herself, though Harvey could hear the underlying uncertainty in her voice.
“You don’t have to do this,” he insisted, stepping forward with a hesitant stride. "It might, "
Sienna raised her hand, silencing him with a simple gesture. Her mind was already made up. She had to know. She had to understand why she had inherited this curse, With a deep breath, Sienna opened the journal. The pages inside were old, their edges frayed, the ink faded in some places but still readable in others. She flipped to the first entry, the writing sprawling across the yellowed paper in elegant, looping letters in it. Her mother’s handwriting. Her pulse quickened, and she leaned closer to read.
First Entry:
The wolves are at the gates again. They come and go, and yet, I remain bound by my duty to the mortal king. My love for him grows more, but so does the sorrow in my heart. The blood of the goddess and the blood of the king, intertwined... but for how long?
Sienna blinked, her eyes scanning the entry again. It made no sense. Wolves, goddess blood, a mortal king? It felt like a dream, She flipped to the next page.
Second Entry:
He has asked me to marry him. To bind our fates forever. His proposal was not a simple matter of politics. No, his eyes, his gaze, when he asked, he truly believed in us. But I know that my heart belongs to the ancient blood that courses through my veins, to the spirit of the goddess that is my heritage. The mortal king’s love is beautiful, but it is fleeting. What we share is timeless, but he does not understand. He cannot.
Sienna frowned. Her mother had been in love with this mortal king, yet she had known it was doomed. The pain in the words was palpable. Sienna turned the page, hunger for more answers consuming her.
Third Entry:
The betrayal has shattered me. I will never look at him the same way again. I thought his love was real, that he saw me for what I was, a goddess, a being beyond time. But he has betrayed me in the worst way possible. He took another’s hand, another woman’s heart. And in doing so, he has broken what we once had. The goddess will never forgive him. And neither will I.
The words on the page blurred, the ink bleeding slightly as if the weight of her mother’s grief had soaked through. Sienna’s heart pounded in her chest. She could feel the agony of her mother in these words, the finality of a love lost. Her mother, bound to a king, and yet cursed by the very blood that made her who she was.
“Sienna...” Harvey’s voice was barely above a whisper as he stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the journal. “That... that’s the story of the First Queen.”
The realization hit her like a physical blow. Sienna could feel her breath catch in her throat. She had known the stories of the First Queen, of course. The legendary ruler, the one whose blood ran through her veins, whose fate had been intertwined with both gods and kings. But to read it from her mother’s own perspective, the pain, the love, the betrayal, it was overwhelming.
“The First Queen?” she echoed, her voice trembling. She turned another page, desperate for more, as if the journal held the key to the questions that had plagued her since she had first learned of her lineage.
Fourth Entry:
I have chosen my path. The king, though once my heart’s desire, is no more.He has sealed his own fate with his betrayal act. The goddess speaks to me, calling me to my true destiny. But I must leave behind this mortal world .I will sever all ties to the king. The wolves have already come for me.
Sienna’s hands shook as she read the last words, her mind racing. The betrayal had been complete. Her mother had severed all ties to the mortal king, abandoning love for duty, for the power of her bloodline.
"Harvey..." Her voice was soft, almost reverent. "What does this mean? The goddess... the wolves... the curse? My mother... she knew all this was coming, didn’t she? She knew I would have to face it."
Harvey stood in silence for a moment, When he finally spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “She knew, Sienna. She knew the price of your blood. She knew the power inside you. she could not protect you from it. She couldn’t save herself, either.”
Sienna felt a shiver run down her spine as the truth settled in. Her mother had known all along that the curse would claim her. That the ancient bloodline would demand its due.
“But why did she leave me with this?” Sienna’s voice cracked, the burden of her mother’s choices crashing down on her. “Why didn’t she tell me more? Why didn’t she warn me?”
Harvey didn’t have an answer. He only stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You have to learn the truth now, Sienna. The same truth your mother learned too late. The gods are never kind. And neither is the power inside you."
. She had inherited her mother’s legacy. The love, the betrayal, the curse, all of it was now hers to bear.
But there was something else. Something more that her mother hadn’t written down. Sienna’s eyes flitted to the next page, where a final, cryptic sentence lay, scrawled hastily in her mother’s handwriting.
Fifth Entry:
They think they can control me, that they can use me as a pawn. But they do not understand. I am the goddess’s heir, and no one, not even the king, can bind me. The wolves will rise again. And they will kneel before me. Before Her Heir...
Sienna’s breath caught. “Her Heir,” she whispered.
Harvey’s face paled. “No. No, Sienna, you don’t understand. It’s not just about the bloodline. It’s what you’re meant to do with it.You are not just the heir... you are the one who will either break the curse or become its next victim to ruin.”
Sienna looked at the journal again, her heart beating.The final words echoed in her mind like a haunting refrain: Her Heir. Her destiny had just been laid bare before her, and she had no idea how to stop the storm that was about to break.
the weight of the journal pressing heavily on her chest. Outside the walls, the night had fallen, but inside, a storm was brewing. Sienna can feel it in the air, something dark, something ancient was coming. And this time, there would be no running.