The tremor faded, but the tension it left behind settled deep in Alisha's bones. The Chamber of Celestials glowed brighter with every passing second, the silver lines on the floor pulsing like a heartbeat. Her heartbeat.
Rowan tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Alisha, breathe. The magic responds to emotion."
She tried, but her chest felt too tight. "Why is this happening to me?"
The Emperor stepped closer, and for the first time, she noticed the faint tremor in his left hand — not fear, but exhaustion, like a man carrying a burden too heavy for one lifetime.
"Because you were born for it," he said softly. "And because the empire has run out of time."
Alisha's mind spun. She had lived seventeen years thinking she was no one — a ward, a stray girl taken in by royal kindness. But now, everything was unraveling, and she wasn't sure which version of her life hurt more:the lie she lived, or the truth waiting to swallow her whole.
Her usually calm brown eyes now flickered with gold reflections from the moonlight. The soft waves of her dark hair framed a face that should have belonged to someone confident — but right now was clouded with fear and defiance.
Her posture, usually reserved, straightened instinctively. Despite the panic, something inside her refused to crumble.
"I don't want to be someone's prophecy," Alisha said, voice trembling but steady. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just want my own life."
The Emperor studied her carefully. "And you shall have it — if you survive."
Another tremor. This time stronger.
Rowan cursed under his breath. "That's the outer barrier failing. They're closer than I thought."
Alisha turned to him. "Who's coming? Why do they want me?"
Rowan hesitated, but the Emperor did not.
"Your mother's enemies," he said.
Alisha blinked. "My… mother?"
The Emperor exhaled, his shoulders sagging under years of unspoken truth. "She was the last Lunar Sovereign — the only one whose power could command the moon itself. And she died protecting you."
Alisha felt her breath stop. A mother she never knew. A death she never understood.Pieces of her life fell into place — the secrecy, the strange moments when she felt the moon pulling at her, the way palace guards always looked at her with pity.
Rowan stepped in front of her, his tone firm. "We cannot stay here. Alisha must reach the Inner Sanctum. It's the only place she can activate the Moonblood safely."
"The what?" Alisha whispered.
The Emperor met her gaze. "Your inheritance — the power sealed inside you since birth. If awakened properly, you will be able to defend yourself."
"And if I don't awaken it properly?" she asked.
The Emperor didn't answer.
The silence was enough.
Suddenly, the chamber doors slammed open.
A guard staggered inside, armor dented, eyes wide with terror.
"Your Majesty— they've breached the east walls! Shadows— they're not human—"
A sharp, inhuman shriek echoed down the stairwell behind him.
Rowan shoved Alisha behind him. "We're leaving. Now!"
The Emperor lifted a golden staff, its tip glowing with silver fire. "Follow me. And whatever you do, child—do not look at the shadows."
Alisha didn't think. She ran.
Not away from danger — but toward the truth that had been kept from her.
Toward the destiny the moon itself had carved across the sky.