CHAPTER NO 8
Echoes of the Prophecy
The palace was silent, yet Selene could feel it breathing.After the blood moon, whispers followed her wherever she went servants staring, guards turning away when she passed. Even the air seemed heavier, as if the castle itself knew something forbidden had taken place.
At night, she dreamed of red light and silver chains. In those dreams, Nyra stood far away, her hand reaching out, but every time Selene tried to touch her, she turned into mist. The curse, perhaps, warning them both.
By morning, she was summoned to the throne chamber.
The grand doors opened with a slow groan. The Queen sat upon her seat of obsidian, her gown flowing like spilled ink, her eyes sharp and cold. Nyra stood beside her, silent, hands clasped tightly behind her back.
"Human," the Queen's voice echoed, "you have stirred the curse of our bloodline. The blood moon revealed a bond between you and my daughter. Do you deny it?"
Selene swallowed hard. "I don't know what it means."
Nyra's eyes flickered with something fear, anger, maybe guilt but she said nothing.
"Ignorance," the Queen continued, "is not innocence. The prophecy speaks of a mortal who would awaken the royal hunger and bring ruin to our kind. You are that mortal."
A heavy silence filled the room. The guards shifted uneasily.
Selene felt her knees weaken. "I didn't mean to
"Enough!" The Queen's voice thundered. "You will be tested. If you survive, fate will decide if you are curse or salvation."
She motioned to the guards. Two armored vampires approached, but Nyra's hand rose sharply, halting them.
"Mother," Nyra said, voice low but firm, "I will oversee the test myself."
The Queen's gaze hardened. "And risk falling deeper under her spell? You forget your duty."
"No," Nyra whispered, "I remember it too well."
Their eyes met a silent war between mother and daughter before the Queen waved her hand dismissively. "Do as you wish. But remember, Nyra the moon does not pity those who defy blood."
Outside the throne room, the air felt colder. Nyra led Selene through long corridors until they reached the garden of white thorns, a place untouched by the sun.
"You shouldn't have spoken," Nyra said, her tone sharp, but her eyes soft.
"I couldn't let them treat me like something wicked," Selene answered quietly.
Nyra stopped, turning toward her. "You are not wicked, Selene… but you are dangerous to me."
Selene's heart trembled. "Then why protect me?"
"Because I don't know how not to."
For a moment, they stood beneath the dying moonlight, their reflections caught in the marble fountain one shadow black, one pale silver and though fate itself tried to tear them apart, they couldn't step away.
The prophecy had begun to awaken. And with it, the chains that bound both their worlds began to break, one link at a time.