Chapter 4

The Solstice Gala was mandatory.

Valerius himself had decreed my attendance. "For your reintegration," he' d said, his eyes like chips of ice.

I knew it was another stage for my humiliation.

The moment I entered the grand hall, the whispers started.

Hostile stares followed me like barbs.

A drink, cold and sticky, splashed down the front of my borrowed gown. Laughter erupted.

Livia' s cronies.

Then a boorish Battle-Mage, reeking of wine and arrogance, cornered me.

"Well, well, if it isn' t the last of the traitorous Lumina. Heard you were quite the popular girl before your clan got what they deserved. Maybe you' d like some... company?"

His hand reached for me.

I flinched away, fear and disgust coiling in my stomach. "Leave me alone."

My voice was a mere thread.

He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Playing hard to get? Or are you saving yourself for High Councilor Orion? Oh, wait..." He leaned in, his breath foul. "Everyone knows he only keeps you around out of pity. Or maybe for a quick tumble when Livia' s not available."

The crowd around us tittered.

My cheeks burned. I wanted the floor to swallow me.

Later, Livia found me in a quiet alcove.

She was radiant, adorned with jewels.

And in her hand, casually twirling it like a cheap toy, was the Heartstone of Aethel.

My clan' s ruin. My millennium of pain.

Her personal bauble.

Her likeness, sharp and cruel, was magically etched onto its surface. A desecration.

"Recognize this, Selene?" she purred, her eyes dancing with malice.

My breath hitched.

"It' s rather pretty, isn' t it? A fitting accessory for the future leader of this Order."

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

"Did Orion ever tell you how your parents died? He was there, you know. Gave the order himself. Very efficient, I heard. No messy struggles. Just... gone."

Her words were like hammer blows.

Orion. My parents.

The rage I' d been nursing, the carefully controlled fury, snapped.

I lunged at her, a wild, desperate scream tearing from my throat.

Before my hands could reach her, agony ripped through me.

White-hot, unbearable.

The Devotion Charm.

I collapsed, writhing on the floor, every nerve screaming.

Orion. He was there. Standing over me. His face grim.

He had activated it.

"Selene," he said, his voice cold, devoid of any emotion. "You will not attack Livia. You will behave."

He gestured to the guards.

"Confine her to her quarters. Ensure she causes no more trouble. Her birthright restoration is soon. We wouldn't want any... complications."

He looked down at me, his eyes unreadable.

Livia smirked, triumphant.

I was dragged away, the pain slowly receding, leaving me hollow and shaking.