Daughter of Dusk

I sneak around to the side of the Manor upon my arrival, heading to the entrance by the servant’s quarters. Father still thinks I’m down in the dungeons, and now that it’s afternoon, there’s no way I’m risking using the entrance closest to the study. All the servants will likely be away from the quarters now and doing their daily tasks, so I should be okay.

Theoretically.

I just have to make it to the library. I can’t head right to the study right now, not without knowing Father isn’t there. And Soren did say he’d meet me in the library. We can devise a plan there.

I hold my ear to the door, sighing with relief as nothing but a pin drop meets my ears.

I creak the door open, quickly surveying the area before I enter the empty hall, heading through the stone corridor as fast as I can.

I manage to get to the library without any close calls, and I slip through the large doors to not tempt fate any further.

But to my surprise, the moment I turn around, Soren is standing there. I knew we’d meet here, but I was still expecting him to be with Father until later.

“Luna,” he breathes as we close the space between us, and he holds me closer than he ever has. I savour it as long as I can, letting his heartbeat echo against my cheek.

He pulls me into a kiss, and I can’t help but let myself melt into his strong arms as he holds my small frame against him with all the tenderness in the world. I reach for him, cupping his face with my hands, letting his blonde hair brush against my fingertips as my cheeks prickle with warmth.

I want to keep going; I want to forget everything and just live in this moment for as long as I can. But unfortunately, reality settles in and I pull away.

My hands rest on his chest. “Are you okay? Does Father suspect anything?”

He gives me a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Nope. We’re in the clear so far.” He holds my elbows as his glacial eyes meet mine “Did you find what you were looking for on Kera?”

I nod, giving him a summary of everything I found.

“So, wait, you’re saying you can be in Enas without the amulet?”

I nod, pulling the necklace over my head and handing it to him. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me use it, truly. I didn’t know about all the nuances of Aether until now, and well, I probably wouldn’t have gone to Kera in the first place without it.”

He smiles, putting it on. “I’m glad it could help you, even if it just made you feel better about going.”

I bite my lip with a smile. “It has me thinking . . . moving to Kera permanently was always the end goal, regardless of if I fulfill the leadership portion of the prophecy or not. It’ll never be safe here for me.” I pause. “But, if you have the amulet back, it – it means you could come with me without losing your powers.”

He’s quiet for several moments, and I can’t read his expression.

“I,” he sighs. “I would love to. Like I said before, I’d go with you in a heartbeat, but I don’t know about a permanent move. I have my mother here, not to mention the fact that I don’t think Darius would just let me go like that.”

“But it doesn’t mean you’d have to be there permanently. I could teach you how to portal back and forth, we could . . .”

He reaches for me, running his thumb along my cheekbone as I let out a shaky exhale. “I’ll think about it.” He gives me a gentle kiss before changing the subject. “So, this Evangeline, you think she’s your mother?”

“I can’t say for sure. There’s a decently good chance, but, I don’t know. The answers will be in Father’s study. Is he in there right now?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. He’s been training with Nox and Melinoe nonstop all day. He hasn’t been in the greatest mood.” He pauses. “You want to break into the study?”

I frown. “I don’t want to, but I think I have to. The information on Kera gave me an idea of what happened, but there are too many missing pieces for me to know for certain.”

He thinks for a moment. “If that’s what you need to do, then you know I’m on your side. But only on one condition.”

“Okay.”

“I’m coming with you.”

My eyes widen. “Soren . . . no, you can’t. We can’t be seen together.”

“I know. We’ll be careful. But I’m not going to watch you go through what you did last time you went into that room.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, sending a tingle of warmth down my spine. “Besides, I can show you how he organizes things, and you’ll probably find what you’re looking for a lot faster.”

I press my lips together, meeting his icelike eyes with determination. “Okay. But if we’re caught, you let me do the talking.”

“Fair enough.” He seals his words with one more kiss, and it takes everything I have to resist staying in this moment for all eternity. Where we can just be, without a care in the world.

But of course, time continues on its cruel path.

Slowly, but surely, we make our way to the study. I can hear Father’s booming voice in the training room from here, and we don’t run into any servants on our way; perhaps there’s a connection between the two observations.

Good, now is probably the best time for us to scope things out. As long as Father doesn’t end training early. But when was the last time that happened?

Soren and I will be out in a flash.

No one will know.

As the door of the study comes into view, I can’t stop my heart from pounding out of my chest.

Relax, Luna. Focus on why you’re here.

My pace slows as we come up to the door, as though my shoes suddenly filled with lead. Every step becomes laborious, taking all my energy to even lift my feet off the ground.

“Luna?”

“I’m fine.”

What is happening to me?

I reach for the doorknob . . . and I lose grip on it as my fingertips go numb.

I flinch as my mind flashes to mine and Father’s confrontation, the shadows just narrowly missing my face.

The thud as they landed on the bookshelf behind me.

The deafening tap . . . tap . . . tap of his pen.

The darkness in his eyes.

“She didn’t want you.”

The shadows in my mind threaten to take over me again, looming, ready to attack and leave nothing but a shell of who I used to be.

Is this really where I’m going to find the answers I need? Am I even strong enough to handle going back in there?

“Luna, hey, it’s okay.” Soren takes my other hand, sending the echoes of the shadows away.

I bring myself back to the present day as the darkness fades away from my heart, and I give him a small smile of determination. “Thanks.”

He squeezes my hand as I take another breath. Remember why you’re here. You’re here for answers.

The feeling comes back to my hands, and with one last glance over my shoulder, I open the door.

It shuts with a gentle click behind me, and Soren illuminates the space with the flick of a switch.

Without Father in here, the space is so . . . haunting. The room is empty, but it still carries memories of its past. Forsaken, but never forgotten.

Impossible to forget.

No, focus Luna.

I take Soren’s hand again as my heart rate steadies itself.

“Are you okay?” He puts an arm around me.

I nod, turning to him. “Yes, for now. Where do we begin?”

He points to the shelves that line the right side of the room. “He keeps all his journals on that wall. They’re dated chronologically, so. . . what year are you looking for?”

“2214 or 2215. Somewhere in there.”

He scans the wall, before tapping a collection of books in a section that’s at my eye level. “They should be here. I’ll see if I can find anything else in the meantime.”

He gives me a quick kiss before moving to the other side of the room.

I glance at the books, deciding to start in 2214. That will likely give some kind of idea of why Father was on the island too.

But as I open the pages, a passage I did not expect to find meets my eyes.

I should have known she was lying from the start. That baby was never mine. I was a fool to even consider it. But the moment they were born, and I saw the baby’s eyes . . . I knew. Such betrayal has no place in my rule. Something must be done.

I frown at the pages, thinking back to the passage I found in Nox and Melinoe’s mother’s room.

So Father did find out the truth about the baby.

I quickly turn to the next page. Even if my mother wasn’t involved in all this, perhaps this will provide some reasoning for why Father went to Kera in the first place. Maybe this was a catalyst of sorts. And I won’t pretend that I’m not curious about what happened.

I have found the baby’s true father: a simple man in a nearby village. Why she would pursue someone like him when she was with the ruler of Zala is beyond me. I don’t care what the reasons for her actions were; she betrayed me. And she knows her actions warrant punishment.

She doesn’t have a place in this Manor anymore, and neither does the baby. But the idea of her being with another man when I send her away is beyond any and all comprehension. He must be taken out.

I won’t kill her, or the baby. They present no threat to me. But something must be done to ensure nothing more comes of this situation.

“Hmm.”

Soren comes over to me. “What is it?”

I quickly relay what I found, before he presses his lips together.

“You know what all this sort of reminds me of? That story that my mother used to tell me about the Queen. The one I based that carving on.”

I blink at him as the pieces click together.

“Maybe that story was about whomever Nox and Melinoe’s mother was. Frustratingly, there’s no name mentioned. All I ever knew about their mother was that she allegedly abandoned the Manor . . . but that doesn’t sound like it’s the truth of what happened. I wonder if she or the baby are still alive.”

“Hmm. Can I see?”

I hand the book to him and move on to the next one, hoping that some answers about my own mother are in there.

After everything that has happened with the baby, I need to get out of here. I need to do something to get my mind off this betrayal. The one thing my ancestors could never do was take Enas. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to find a way to take that world. Or, at least, that was the plan.

Aha! So everything that happened with Nox and Melinoe’s mother was the reason for him travelling to Kera. Initially, that is.

But, that plan took a turn when I saw her. Evangeline.

My breath hitches.

Evangeline. My mother. It really was her.

She didn’t instantly see me as a monster as I initially thought she would. She was kind, and she was beautiful. Whatever reasons I was there for, I forgot about them as soon as I met her. Not that I could stay for very long without losing my powers, but there’s something about this woman. She captivates me.

It’s foolish to let a woman get in the way of my plans to take over Enas. But a small detour while I devise my bigger plans to take the world will cause no harm.

The idea of Father truly loving Evangeline is something I can’t wrap my head around. But, perhaps she really was as captivating as he says. I could see it.

I continue on to a few months later.

Every time I see Eva, she seems to be glowing more and more. Even though she knows the baby likely won’t live, she never gives up hope. I haven’t ever met someone like her before. Someone who could believe, even during the darkest night.

I’ve asked Eva to not document anything about the baby, mostly because I am unsure what will become of them. What will come of the light world and the dark world mixing together? Likely nothing, but I have been looking into the possibilities of what could happen should the baby live. Thus far, the only thing I know is a prophecy about a baby born from Darkness and Light being able to wield Aether, a skillset more powerful than any in Zala or Enas. Which, absolutely cannot happen. Not if I want to maintain my rule.

So Father does know about the prophecy. And he was behind hiding the pregnancy.

I skip ahead to the time around my birthday, where I notice the ink is particularly jagged.

Eva, the tiny thing she is, has done it. But the baby – whom we’ve agreed to call Luna – must come with me. Eva knew this, but she still fought me to keep Luna on Kera with her. How dare she disobey me. I can’t believe I fell for a traitor who wanted nothing more than for me and my legacy to burn in the sun. Luna will be better off not knowing any better about her Aether powers or her role as Daughter of Dusk in the prophecy. And Eva knows it. Those on Kera know of the prophecy, and I know even a whisper of Luna’s powers would put her in a leadership position one day and make her a direct threat to me. And I refuse to be threatened by a child. I need Luna to grow up not knowing who she really is, or where her mother is really from. For my own sake, as far as Luna knows, she’s a Shadow Wielder. I can’t have her finding out she is the Daughter of Dusk. Her Aether power is too great.

I stumble backwards, letting the book tumble out of my hands as my heart beats in my throat.

Evangeline was a traitor. But not because she didn’t want me. It was because she fought to keep me.

I really am the Daughter of Dusk. I have more power than Father. That’s why he’s lied to me all my life.

Is he . . . afraid of me?

Soren rushes over to me, holding my shoulders to prevent me from falling. “Are you okay?”

I hardly register his voice or his arms around me. But despite that, I manage to speak. “He’s afraid of me.”

The more I think about it, the more it makes complete sense.

Why else would he have treated me so wrongly my whole life? He controlled me, in the best way he knows how. With fear.

I’ve grown up terrified of him, of Nox, of Melinoe, of the Manor, even of myself.

Part of me commends him for it. It worked, for a time. But not anymore.

“What?” Soren’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

I turn to him. “My powers. The prophecy that says I’m destined to rule over the Darkness and the Light. He knows I’m the Daughter of Dusk. He knows I’m more powerful than any other.” My eyes start watering, but I can’t stop it. “My mother wasn’t a traitor at all. She did want me, she wanted me to stay on the island with her, and he took me away from her and kept me in the dark all this time because he was afraid I’d challenge him as a leader. All he ever wanted was his fucking power, and he was so afraid I’d take it away from him that he. . .”

Soren pulls me against him and I grasp his shoulders as I catch my breath, trying to process everything in any way I can.

It was all a lie. My whole life has been a lie.

All this time, I’ve been so afraid, when it was really Father that was afraid.

My disbelief morphs into anger as I bury my face in Soren’s chest.

“I can’t have her finding out she is the Daughter of Dusk. Her Aether power is too great.”

What am I really capable of? Could I level this entire Manor to the ground? Could I destroy the place that was never home?

Could I become the new ruler of Zala? Surpass Father?

But at what cost?

Soren strokes my hair, bringing me back to reality. “Just breathe, okay?”

The pieces have finally come together.

All my questions have been answered.

What now? What can I do?

Before I can contemplate my thoughts, the door creaks open, sending my nerves to their edge.

Oh no.

Please don’t be Father.

Please don’t be Father.

Soren and I quickly separate from one another, but it’s too late for us to run.

We’ve been caught.