The wind stirred gently through the trees, brushing cool fingers against Selene's skin as she sat beside the dying embers of their fire. Lucien stood nearby, silent as ever, eyes on the moon. He hadn't spoken much since he told her about Clarity and Moriah.
But Selene's thoughts wouldn't rest.
She glanced at him, voice quiet but clear. "You were so powerful… Why didn't you fight them?"
Lucien didn't move. For a moment, she thought he might ignore the question entirely.
Then: "I did. But not in the way the world remembers."
Selene furrowed her brow. "They sealed you. The entire Witch Tower stood against you. What could they have possibly used to subdue you? You… you don't seem like someone who bows to threats."
Lucien turned toward her. Not cold. Not wounded. But something in his eyes flickered—like old smoke curling from a long-dead fire.
"I didn't bow," he said softly. "I chose."
He stepped closer, shadows trailing him like memories.
"They came under false banners. Peace. Accord. Unity. All lies. One night, they surrounded my citadel with enchantments crafted by the Tower's finest. But not to harm me… no, they'd studied me too well for that."
Lucien sat beside her, his voice low.
"They had my people. My inner circle. My soldiers. Luz Hano. My tactician Yair. My blade-wright sisters. My scholars. My foreign allies. All taken or threatened, used as leverage."
Selene stared, her heart sinking. "They took hostages?"
"Yes. They said if I did not surrender to be sealed, they would execute them one by one. Slowly. Publicly."
Selene covered her mouth. "That's monstrous."
Lucien's hands clenched faintly. "Some of my people escaped. Some were smuggled away by allies to a place the world forgot—God-No-Where. But many were captured… and I couldn't risk them all. So I made the only choice I had."
"You surrendered."
"I did."
The fire between them hissed.
"I knelt on the tower steps," Lucien continued, "hands raised in binding. And still… still they lied. They swore my people would be spared. That they would be released."
Selene swallowed. "But they weren't."
"No." His voice hardened. "The Tower broke its promise. My fortress was razed. My name erased. My people either executed, imprisoned, or scattered to the edges of the world."
She reached out, touching his hand.
He didn't flinch. But he didn't meet her eyes either.
"And Moriah?" she asked gently. "Did she say anything during this?"
Lucien was silent.
Then, slowly: "The world doesn't know this… but the night before the sealing, she contacted me."
Selene blinked. "How?"
"Soul-link. A rare communion spell. One she invented."
He looked away, as if the memory itself shamed him.
"She said she would help me escape. That she'd unravel the seal mid-casting and grant me a second chance—if I gave her what she wanted."
"What did she want?" Selene whispered.
Lucien's voice turned brittle. "My love."
Selene stilled.
"She said she had loved me for years. That our engagement was fate. That I was blind. And if I would just—choose her, truly—she would spare me."
Selene whispered, "And you said no."
"I said nothing," he admitted. "I severed the link. I wasn't going to trade my heart for freedom."
A shadow passed through his voice.
"During the ritual, the world saw her as calm. Controlled. But I felt her anger. Her betrayal. The flame that flickered in the final seal? That was hers. Fury woven through duty."
Selene frowned. "So why didn't she kill you?"
Lucien exhaled slowly. "That's what I've wondered every year since. She could have. The curse was powerful. But something in it... hesitated."
He looked up at the stars.
"I remember one last thing. Just before I blacked out—she whispered to me. Said she would reveal a great secret… if I changed my mind. If I chose her."
"But you didn't."
"I couldn't. I only wanted to save my people."
He rose, quiet fury now lining his posture.
"But they're gone. All I protected… destroyed. Lied to. Forgotten. The Tower silenced me, but now I'm awake."
Selene stood too. "So what now?"
Lucien's gaze sharpened.
"I find them. The ones who remain. Luz. Yair. The iron-blooded sisters. The outcasts who hid in God-No-Where. My people. They're all that matter now."
Selene nodded, eyes blazing.
"Then let's find them. Together."