Chapter 119: Revelations
The court gala had quieted into a ghost of itself, its echoes still haunting the floors by the time I returned to my chambers.
The dress clung to me like armor I couldn’t peel off. I stood at the mirror, fingers trembling as I unclasped the last pin from my hair. I had smiled through every insult tonight, every backhanded toast and whispered speculation. They thought they could break me by confirming what I already knew—that I wasn’t divine anymore.
But gods didn’t need approval to exist. And queens didn’t need permission to rule.
A knock came—soft, rhythmic. Familiar.
"Kieran," I called, already sensing his presence.
He entered without waiting. His tunic was undone at the collar, his expression grim.
"We found Marin’s accomplice," he said. "A steward named Halrik. He tried to flee the estate under disguise."
I faced him fully. "Did he talk?"
Kieran nodded, but there was something in his face that unsettled me. "He did. Before he tried to bite down on a death rune. Fiona stopped him in time."
I inhaled. "And?"
"He said Marin was never truly Hollow Crescent. She was deeper. Older. She served someone called the Crimson Wolf."
The name felt like a blade dragging across memory. "That’s not a name," I murmured. "It’s a title. One that hasn’t been spoken in centuries."