Mira's POV
The Moonwolf vanished as suddenly as it appeared, dissolving into silver mist.
I collapsed in Caspian's arms, completely drained. My whole body felt like it had been wrung out and left to dry.
"Get the healers," Caspian commanded. His voice sounded far away, like I was underwater. "And secure the perimeter. I want every entrance checked for more spies."
"What about her?" someone asked. Raven, maybe. "She's the heir. The true heir. We need to—"
"Later." Caspian's arms tightened around me. "Right now, she needs rest."
I tried to speak, to tell them I was fine, but darkness pulled me under before I could form words.
When I woke, moonlight streamed through tall windows.
I was in a different room now—still huge, still elegant, but softer somehow. The bed beneath me was ridiculously comfortable, like sleeping on a cloud.
For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling and trying to process everything.
Seraphina's soul had taken control of my body. I'd used magic I didn't know. A sacred wolf had bowed to me. And apparently, I—or Seraphina, or both of us—was the true royal heir to a kingdom I'd only read about in a novel.
"This is insane," I whispered to the empty room. "Completely insane."
A knock on the door made me jump.
"Come in," I called, then immediately regretted it. What if it was another assassin? Another spy?
But it was just a young girl, maybe fourteen, carrying a tray of food. She kept her eyes down as she entered.
"Lord Caspian requests your presence for dinner, my lady," she said softly. "He asked me to bring you something to eat first, in case you were hungry."
My stomach growled loudly, answering for me.
The girl's lips twitched in a small smile as she set the tray on a side table. "There's also a bath drawn for you, and fresh clothes laid out. Lord Caspian said to take your time."
She left before I could thank her.
I looked at the tray—bread, cheese, some kind of soup that smelled amazing. My hands shook as I reached for it. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. Before the execution? That felt like years ago instead of hours.
The food was gone in minutes. Then I found the bathroom—because of course this place had an actual bathroom with a massive bathtub—and nearly cried at the sight of hot water.
Thirty minutes later, clean and wearing a simple black dress that fit perfectly, I felt almost human again.
Almost.
A servant appeared to guide me through the castle's winding corridors. We passed dozens of people—soldiers, servants, scholars—all of them stopping to stare at me with wide eyes.
They knew. They all knew about the Moonwolf, about what it meant.
The servant stopped at a set of double doors. "The dining hall, my lady."
She opened the doors and left.
I stepped inside, expecting—I don't know. Something dungeon-like. Dark and oppressive.
Instead, I found an elegant room with a long table set for two. Candles provided soft light. And at the head of the table sat Caspian.
He'd changed too. Gone was the battle-worn Dark Lord covered in dust and blood. This version wore dark, expensive clothes that made him look less like a monster and more like... a prince.
A devastatingly handsome, probably-dangerous prince.
His silver eyes tracked me as I entered. "Feeling better?"
"Feeling confused," I admitted, walking toward the table. "But physically better, yes."
He gestured to the chair beside him. "Sit. Eat. We have much to discuss."
I sat carefully, hyperaware of how close he was. How his presence seemed to fill the entire room.
Food appeared—servants bringing dish after dish, all of it looking and smelling incredible. My treacherous stomach growled again.
"Eat first," Caspian said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Questions after."
I wanted to argue, to demand answers immediately. But hunger won. I ate, trying not to shovel food into my mouth like a starving animal even though that's exactly what I felt like.
Caspian ate too, but barely. He mostly watched me, those silver eyes never leaving my face.
Finally, when I couldn't eat another bite, I set down my fork and met his gaze.
"Okay," I said. "Let's talk about the fact that apparently I'm royalty now."
"Not you," Caspian corrected quietly. "Seraphina. She was the heir to the old kingdom—the one that existed before Aldric's family took power seventy years ago."
My mind spun. "But if she was the heir, why didn't anyone know? Why was she living as a minor noble instead of claiming her throne?"
"Because claiming her throne would have meant civil war." Caspian's jaw tightened. "The current royal family would never surrender power peacefully. Seraphina knew that. She planned to wait, to gather support slowly, to build a case for her bloodline's legitimacy before making any moves."
"And you knew? All this time?"
He nodded. "I was helping her. We were going to—" His voice broke slightly. "We were going to restore the old kingdom together. After we married. After we had secured enough allies."
The pain in his voice made my chest ache.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry she's gone."
"Is she?" His eyes bore into mine. "The Moonwolf appeared for you, Mira. For your body. Which means Seraphina's royal blood is still present, still active. Her soul may be fading, but some part of her remains."
I touched my wrist, where both marks still burned. "I felt her. During the battle. She took control, used magic I don't have. Then she just... faded."
"But not completely," Caspian said. "If she were completely gone, the Moonwolf wouldn't have recognized you."
"So what does that mean for me? For us?" The words came out before I could stop them. "Am I supposed to be the heir now? I don't know anything about ruling kingdoms! I'm just a failed novelist from another world!"
Caspian was quiet for a long moment. Then: "The binding ceremony that connected us—it did more than just tie our souls together. It also transferred some of Seraphina's memories and abilities to you. That's why you could channel her magic, why her royal blood recognizes you as its vessel."
"That's impossible."
"So is pulling souls from other dimensions, yet here you are." He leaned forward, his gaze intense. "Whether you like it or not, Mira Chen, you're now the last carrier of the true royal bloodline. Which makes you the most important person in this kingdom—and the most dangerous to Evangeline's power."
The weight of his words crushed down on me. "I can't do this. I can't be a queen or a heir or whatever. I'm nobody!"
"You're somebody who survived Evangeline's ritual when dozens before you died," Caspian said firmly. "Somebody who activated a binding ceremony without training. Somebody who Seraphina's soul chose to merge with instead of simply fading away. That's not nobody, Mira."
Despite myself, warmth spread through my chest at his words.
"Besides," he added with a small smile, "you don't have to do it alone. That's what the binding is for. Your battles are mine now. Your enemies, your struggles, your victories—we share them all."
I stared at him, this Dark Lord who everyone feared, who showed gentleness only to me. "Why are you being so kind? You barely know me."
His smile faded. "Because I know what it's like to have the world turn against you. To be told you're a monster when all you did was try to do the right thing. To watch everyone you trusted betray you." His hand reached across the table, fingers brushing mine. "I won't let that happen to you. I couldn't save Seraphina, but I can save you."
The touch sent electricity through my skin. The binding mark on my wrist flared hot.
"Caspian—"
A servant burst through the doors, his face pale with panic.
"My lord! Urgent news from the capital!"
Caspian's expression went cold. "Speak."
"High Priestess Evangeline has made an announcement. She's declared you and Lady Mira enemies of the kingdom. She's offering a massive reward for your capture—dead or alive." The servant swallowed hard. "And she's declared that in three days, she will personally lead an army to siege the Shadowlands and reclaim what she calls 'the stolen heir.'"
Ice flooded my veins. "Three days? That's not enough time to prepare—"
"There's more," the servant interrupted, looking at me with fear in his eyes. "She's announced that the true heir must present themselves for a blood test to prove their legitimacy. If you refuse or fail the test, she'll execute every person in the Shadowlands as traitors to the crown."
The room spun.
Evangeline had just forced my hand. I either had to face her blood test—which might kill me or reveal that I'm not really from this world—or let thousands of innocent people die.
"That's not a test," Caspian growled. "That's a trap."
"I know," I whispered. "But what choice do we have?"
Caspian stood abruptly, dark magic crackling around his hands. "We fight. We defend the Shadowlands and damn her test—"
"And let your people die because of me?" I stood too, surprising myself with my own conviction. "No. I won't let that happen. If she wants to test my blood, fine. I'll go."
"Absolutely not." Caspian's voice was steel. "The moment you step into that Temple, she'll kill you."
"Then come with me," I challenged. "You're bound to me now, right? So come. Protect me. And I'll prove to everyone that I'm the true heir, just like Seraphina wanted."
"You'll prove nothing if you're dead!"
"I'M ALREADY SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" The words exploded out of me. "I died in my world, Caspian! I was summoned here to be executed! Every moment I'm alive is borrowed time! So if I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die doing something that matters!"
Silence crashed over the room.
Caspian stared at me, emotions warring across his face—anger, fear, frustration, and something that looked almost like... pride?
Finally, he spoke, his voice dangerously quiet: "You're not going to die. I won't allow it."
"You can't stop death—"
"I stopped it once already." He crossed to me in two strides, taking my face in his hands. "And I'll stop it again. But you need to trust me. Can you do that?"
I looked into his silver eyes, seeing the determination there. The promise.
"I'll trust you," I whispered. "But you have to trust me too. Trust that I'm strong enough to face this."
His thumb brushed my cheek. "I know you're strong. That's not what scares me."
"Then what does?"
His answer was barely audible: "Losing you before I've really had the chance to know you."
My heart stopped.
Before I could respond, he released me and turned to the servant. "Send word to all our allies. Tell them we're accepting Evangeline's challenge. In three days, we ride to the capital."
"My lord—"
"And tell them something else." Caspian's smile was sharp and dangerous. "Tell them the true heir has awakened. The old kingdom is rising. And anyone who stands with us will be rewarded when we take back the throne."
The servant's eyes went wide. "You're declaring war?"
"No." Caspian looked at me, his silver eyes burning with fierce determination. "We're declaring revolution."
The servant ran from the room.
I stood there, trembling, trying to process what we'd just committed to.
In three days, we would march on the capital. Face Evangeline. Take the blood test. And either prove I was the true heir—
Or die trying.
"Caspian," I said quietly. "What if I fail the test? What if my blood proves I'm not really Seraphina?"
He was quiet for a long moment.
Then: "There's something I haven't told you yet. About the blood test. About what it really measures."
Dread pooled in my stomach. "What?"
"It doesn't just test for royal bloodline," he said slowly. "It tests for something else. Something Evangeline has been hunting for decades."
"What? Tell me!"
His eyes met mine, and in them I saw fear. Real, genuine fear.
"It tests for Starborn blood," he said. "A bloodline that existed before even the old kingdom. A bloodline that comes from another world."
My breath stopped. "Another world? But that means—"
"It means," Caspian finished, "that you being from another world might not be an accident. It might be exactly why the binding ceremony worked. Why Seraphina's soul chose to merge with yours."
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to barely a whisper.
"Mira, I think you and Seraphina aren't just sharing a body. I think you're the same soul, split across two worlds. And when Evangeline pulled you here, she reunited what was always meant to be whole."
The world tilted beneath my feet.
"That's impossible," I breathed.
"So is everything else that's happened to you." His hand found mine, squeezing gently. "In three days, we'll find out the truth. But until then—"
A scream split the air.
Then another. And another.
We ran to the window.
Outside, the sky had turned blood red. And falling from that crimson sky like twisted snow were black feathers—thousands of them, covering the Shadowlands in darkness.
"What is that?" I whispered.
Caspian's face had gone white. "Evangeline's declaration of war. She's sending the Raven Guard."
"The Raven Guard?"
"Her personal assassins. Soul hunters." His grip on my hand tightened painfully. "They can track anyone, anywhere, as long as they have a piece of your essence. And Mira—" His voice cracked. "The execution platform. When you bled on it before I rescued you—"
Understanding hit like ice water.
"She has my blood," I finished numbly.
"Which means," Caspian said, pulling me away from the window, "they're already here."
The door exploded inward.
And through the smoke stepped figures in black armor, their faces hidden behind raven masks.
The hunt had begun.
And this time, there was nowhere to run.