Page 44 of Crowned By the Shadow
Wyn nodded in agreement. “The courts need to know what’s coming. They need to set aside their differences and unite against the true threat.”
“They won’t listen to us,” I said bitterly. “We tried, and now we’re fugitives, remember? Thorn and I broke their precious laws by forming our soul bond. Not to mention I’m a pariah, the embodiment of the threat to their entire worldview.”
“Then we make them listen,” Ronan said, determination hardening his voice. “We show them the truth. We prove that their ancient prejudices are nothing compared to the danger we all face.”
“Maybe. First, we rest, or at least I need more rest,” I said, feeling the exhaustion still heavy in my bones. “Then we plan. And then we fight, not just for ourselves, but for all realms.”
As the others murmured their agreement, and drifted away, except for Thorn, who just watched me. I sat back and pulled the mangled sleeve of my disguise up checking for the corruption that had woven itself through my mark before.
It was gone for the most part, but some of it was still there, persistent in its efforts to control me. I knew Thorn was still watching me, still worried about me, but I couldn’t do anything about it right now, not if he didn’t want to talk about it.
I lay back down, my body demanding more recovery time. But as I drifted toward sleep again, I felt it, a presence at the edge of my consciousness, watching, waiting. The Empress hadn’t given up. She was patient, ancient beyond comprehension, and certain of her victory.
But so was I. Whatever came next, whatever choice awaited me at the end of this path, I would face it with open eyes and a full heart. I would remember what I was fighting for. I would remember who I was and where I had come from.
Senara. Eclipse Child. Daughter of sun and moon.
And I would never surrender.
Chapter
Fourteen
Thorn
I watched Senara from across our small campsite, her fingers tracing the outline of the Moon Blades as she tried to go back to sleep. The blades had disappeared for a while, but when she woke up they reappeared, right next to her, as though they’d never left. Even in rest, they emanated a soft silver light that cast strange shadows across her face.
The glow highlighted something that made my stomach clench. Thin threads of darkness spread through her Moon Mark like ink in water. For a while I thought the corruption that had marked her was cast out, defeated by the sun and moon magic that resided within her, but I was wrong.
The corruption was growing.
Sometimes it was beaten back by the sun and moon magic that was within her but it remained nonetheless. Thin tendrils of void energy that wove through the silver patterns of her mark, following the spiraling designs like parasitic vines.
Senara hadn’t mentioned it, but I knew she felt it. Sometimes I’d catch her examining her arms with a furrowed brow, or rubbing at the marks as if she could somehow scrub the darkness away.
Through our soul bond, I sensed her discomfort. It wasn’t quite pain, but a persistent cold sensation that seemed to spread with the corruption. When we touched, I could almost feel it myself, an alien presence threading through the warmth of our connection.
“You should rest,” I said, moving to sit beside her. “We have a long journey ahead.”
She looked up, attempting a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” I replied, keeping my voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. Ronan had finally fallen asleep after taking first watch, and Wyn was meditating nearby, her transformed appearance still jarring to behold. “I can feel it, Senara. The corruption...”
“Is spreading.” She finished my sentence, her voice flat. “I know.”
I reached for her hand, turning it gently to examine the mark. The silver patterns that had once glowed with pure moonlight now contained streaks of darkness. Not enough to be immediately obvious to others, but unmistakable to me.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, tracing the patterns with my thumb.
“Not exactly.” She hesitated, searching for words. “It feels... cold. Like something foreign is flowing through my veins. And sometimes I hear whispers...”
My heart clenched. “Whispers? What do they say?”
“Nothing clear. Just... impressions. Promises. Temptations.” She withdrew her hand, clenching it into a fist. “I can ignore them. For now.”
For now. The unspoken implication hung between us like a storm cloud. What happened when she couldn’t ignore them anymore? What happened when the corruption spread too far?
I thought of Sebastian, the father she’d only just found before losing him again. His sacrifice had bought us an escape from thecapital, but at what cost? He’d never even had the chance to truly know his daughter. And she’d barely had time to process finding him before watching him die.
