Chapter 21: The Blood Remembers
The wards trembled.
Not cracked, not broken but shivered, like a breath drawn sharp before a scream.
Lila pressed her palm against the cool stone wall of the Hall of Whispers, her heart slamming against her ribs as if trying to escape. The storm outside hadn't passed—it had paused, hovering above Arcanwyn like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike again.
Inside, the air was thick with fear and the metallic scent of magic freshly burned. Students whispered in clusters, wounded being healed with trembling hands. Yet through it all, Lila felt only one thing.
Him.
The Forgotten King hadn't left. His presence still coiled outside the barrier—watching, waiting. Her skin prickled where his voice had touched her.
You belong to us.
Her blood still echoed with the truth of it.
Thorne paced before the flickering hearth, her movements sharp, her eyes wild with calculation. "He won't stop," she muttered, more to herself than anyone. "He's breached the edge of the Veil. The balance has already begun to shift."
Lila stepped forward, voice steadier than she expected. "Then tell me what he is. What I am."
Thorne's gaze snapped to her. "You really want the truth?"
"I need it."
A beat of silence. Then Thorne nodded grimly.
"You were born of both worlds—Veil and realm. Your bloodline was sealed, your memories softened, your power locked. Not to keep you safe... but to keep him out."
The Hall quieted. Every ear strained toward her.
Thorne's voice dropped to a whisper. "You are not just the heir to the Veil, Lila. You are its key. And the King—he doesn't just want you to open the door. He wants to claim you. Bind you to him, and through you, rip the Veil wide open."
A cold silence settled.
Niall stared at Lila like he was seeing her for the first time. "So what happens if he succeeds?"
Thorne didn't blink. "Then every forbidden creature, every banished soul, every ancient horror the world forgot… will return."
And suddenly, Lila knew
This wasn't a war.
It was a reckoning.