Chapter 41 The Dead Moon Rift
Conrad observes the names for a long moment, his jaw tense, but his eyes no longer hold only fear. There is something new there. Acceptance.
"Then let's give them a reason to rise up," he replies. "Starting with our own kingdom."
The castle seemed too silent for a place preparing for a ceremony, but I knew that quiet was only the pause before the tide turned. The engagement would not be just a celebration. It would be a sign.
For the hidden hybrids.
For the executioners who hunted us.
And for the world, which would soon have to learn to see what it tried to forget.
The bells continued to toll as I was led to the main balcony, where the court already gathered like a restless sea of faces, cloaks, and whispers. The wind stirred my hair, and the white strands I had previously hidden now danced freely, revealing what I was.
I didn't try to hide it.
Not after feeling the names move on their own.
Conrad walked beside me, his posture erect, but his hand intertwined with mine held too firmly to be mere protocol. He was as frightened as I was, and that gave me courage.
Kael positioned himself a few steps behind, silent as a shadow observing without intervening.
When we took our first step outside, the crowd fell silent. No announcement was necessary. Something within me echoed in that open space, vibrating in the air like a rope about to snap.
I raised my chin.
"Today I am not here as future queen," I began, my voice coming out clearer than I expected. "I am here as that which they tried to erase from our history."
Some councilors exchanged uneasy glances. Others lowered their heads, as if recognizing truths too old to be spoken aloud.
"The creatures you call Void Hunters are not legends. They are moving. They are wiping out entire packs." I took a deep breath. "And they came because I awakened something that was buried before I was born."
A murmur ran through the balcony like a collective shiver.
"But I'm not the only one." I touched the center of my chest, feeling the symbol pulsing. "There are others like me. Names that still shine, even after centuries of silence."
A distant howl cut through the air.
It didn't come from inside the walls.
It came from the north.
Conrad stepped forward.
"By order of the king, the borders will be closed and the advanced reconnaissance groups will depart at dawn," he announced. "The Dead Moon Rift is no longer a myth."
The words hung heavy.
Then I felt it.
A presence.
Not near. Not yet.
But attentive.
I smiled involuntarily, a smile that held no joy.
They were listening to us.
And for the first time since it all began, I understood that we were no longer prey being tracked.
We were a call impossible to ignore.
The word "rift" echoed in my head as I remained clinging to Conrad's back. His body was tense under my arms, as if every muscle fought against the idea of losing me before even trying to save me.
"You can't carry this alone," he finally said, without turning around. "Not as queen... not as who you are."
I pressed my face against his back, breathing in the scent that always calmed me.
"I don't want to go alone," I confessed. "But I also can't pretend that none of this is happening. Those names in the book... they still breathe somewhere, Conrad. They're waiting."
He turned slowly, grasping my wrists and pulling me forward until our foreheads touched.
"Then let's do this our way," he murmured. "No Elders, no blind rituals. Just the truth."
The hall was too silent for a castle preparing for a royal engagement. The servants avoided our gaze, as if sensing something invisible walking among us.
That's when Kael reappeared at the door, as if summoned by my own thoughts.
"They're sensing you again," he warned. "The book isn't just reacting. It's awakening."
My heart tightened.
"Then time's up."
Kael nodded, more serious than ever.
"The Dead Moon Rift doesn't accept kings, nor queens," he said. "It only accepts fragments. And you are one of them."
Conrad stood beside me, his hand firm on my waist.
"Tell me what we need to take." Kael looked at him first, then at me.
"Only what you can't let go of," he replied. "Because inside, everything that's a lie... disappears."
The symbol beneath my skin pulsed in response, as if acknowledging the sentence.
I still didn't know how to close an open wound in the world.
But for the first time, I wasn't running from it anymore either.
The corridor leading to Kael's chambers seemed longer than ever. The torches on the walls burned in bluish hues, reacting to the symbol beneath my skin, and each step I took sounded like an announcement of something I didn't yet dare to name.
Kael opened a hidden door behind an ancient tapestry, revealing a spiral staircase that descended into the bowels of the castle.
"Most believe the Dead Moon Rift is just a legend," he said as we began to descend. "But every legend is born from a mistake that no one could fix."
The air grew colder as we moved forward. It wasn't the usual cold of ancient stone—it was an emptiness that pierced my breath, as if the castle itself were trying to forget what lay beneath.
Conrad walked beside me in silence, too attentive to appear merely protective. His fingers intertwined with mine were the only thing that reminded me of who I still was.
We reached a circular chamber. In the center, there was a circle of symbols carved into the floor, faded by time, but still alive enough to burn my eyes when I stared at them.
"This is the oldest echo of the Link," Kael explained. "The door that leads to the place where it was broken."
"So the Rift isn't a physical location," I murmured.
"It's a wound," he replied. "A scar between planes."
The symbol on my chest answered before I could think. The floor beneath my feet lit up, golden lines sprouting like hungry roots. The entire chamber seemed to breathe with me.
Conrad held my face.
"If it hurts too much, we stop."
I smiled, though my hands were trembling.
"If it hurts too much... it's because we're close to the truth."
The walls began to crumble like mist, revealing a space that was neither dark nor light—simply absent.
Kael took a step back.
"From here on, I can no longer guide you," he warned. "The Rift only opens for those who carry the break."
I squeezed Conrad's hand and took the first step into nothingness.
And for the first time, I felt no fear.
I felt recognition.