POV: Elara Virelle (1st person)
---
"We did not fall in love.
We rose into it, like two stars caught in the same gravity."
— Kael
---
[Scene: Arrival – The Moon Realm, Outer Skies]
We didn't land.
We descended.
Carried on a bridge of silver clouds, Kael and I drifted toward a land painted in starlight and silence.
I thought the Moon Realm would be cold. Empty.
But it was alive — breathing beneath my feet. Trees shimmered with translucent leaves. Rivers flowed upward. Mountains hovered mid-air, their peaks cradling what looked like crystal cities.
And in the distance, lit beneath twin moons, stood a castle carved into a cratered valley of moonstone:
Lunaris Prime — the capital of the forgotten Moon Kingdom.
My breath caught. "We lived here?"
Kael nodded, a flicker of pain in his voice. "We ruled here. Until they shattered it all."
---
[Scene: The Crater Gates of Lunaris Prime]
As we approached the towering silver gates, guards in armor that reflected constellations appeared — their spears raised in perfect synchrony.
One of them stepped forward and immediately froze when he saw Kael.
"Prince Kael…" His voice broke. "But… you were…"
"Banished," Kael said grimly. "I know."
He turned to me. "This is Elara. She's returned."
The guards stared. Some gasped. One dropped his spear.
"She bears the Ring of Memory," whispered the leader, stepping back.
The gates opened — not from force, but as if recognizing me.
The kingdom remembered me.
Even when I had forgotten it.
---
[Scene: Inside Lunaris Prime – The City of Echoes]
Lunaris Prime was built like a dream — glowing bridges, streets made of glass, soft moonlight lighting every corner.
But the beauty couldn't mask the grief.
There were scars. Cracks in towers. Empty halls. Statues broken in half.
"This place looks like a memory trying to rebuild itself," I said.
Kael glanced at me. "That's because it is."
He stopped before a crumbled monument. At its base was a name chiseled in ancient script:
Elara Virelle, Queen of the Bound Realms.
I touched it, and a wave of memory hit me:
Our wedding under the Eclipse Moons
The two kingdoms uniting — Earthbound and Lunar
The betrayal…
The council tearing us apart
The curse…
I staggered back, heart racing.
Kael caught me. "It'll come in pieces. But it's yours — all of it."
---
[Scene: The Hall of Stars – The Throne Room]
We stepped into the throne room, where two thrones still stood — one of moonstone, one of obsidian.
Mine.
His.
And sitting in Kael's place was a woman. Silver-skinned, eyes glowing gold, dressed in shadow.
Kael tensed. "Seris."
She rose with a smile that didn't touch her eyes.
"The banished prince returns… and brings a ghost with him," she said. "Hello, Elara."
I felt something sharp coil inside me. "Who are you?"
"His cousin," she said smoothly. "Now Regent of Lunaris, in your absence."
"She has no claim," Kael snapped.
"Oh, but I do. The moment you were cast out, someone had to stop this kingdom from collapsing."
She circled me slowly. "You shouldn't have come back. Love cannot hold up a fallen moon."
I met her gaze. "Then maybe it's time we rebuild it."
---
[Scene: Moonlight Garden – That Night]
Kael and I sat beneath a blooming tree with glowing leaves, just beyond the city's walls.
"I don't trust her," I said.
"You shouldn't."
"I remember something about her," I added. "Not clearly. But… she was part of the council."
Kael nodded. "She led the charge to erase our bond. She believed the Earthbound were contaminating Lunar purity."
"So she cursed us."
Kael didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
---
[Scene: Flashback – Memory Surge]
I suddenly gasped as another memory surged — this time, more brutal:
A glowing chain wrapping around Kael's heart…
Me, screaming as the council chanted…
Seris holding the Binding Seal…
A final kiss before we were torn apart — my body collapsing on Earth, his trapped in the Moon Realm…
My heart cracked. "They killed us."
"They tried," Kael whispered. "But love is the only curse that never dies."
---
[Scene: Ending – Prophecy Awakens]
As we stood together beneath the moons, a swirl of starlight rose from the ground — forming a floating scroll of light.
Kael caught it. "The Prophecy," he said.
He read aloud:
> "When the Moon's Secret Lover returns,
And the Bound Queen reclaims her fire,
The sealed heart shall awaken,
And war shall tremble under desire."
He looked at me.
"Elara… they'll come for us. Earthbound and Lunar both."
"Then let them come," I said, lacing my fingers through his.
"Because this time, I remember how to fight."
---
✅ End of Chapter 4
Next Chapter: "The Eclipse Heir"