Chapter 106
Lila
1 first heard about the séance from the servants.
They weren’t speaking to me. Just walking ahead of me down the corridor–two lower court girls with starched aprons and brunch trays, whispering under their breath like it was a ghost story told at a festival.
“She said the spirit looked right at him. Can you imagine?”
“He didn’t even flinch.”
“I would have fainted! The former Luna speaking from beyond? I mean, if it really was her.”
I slowed my steps, just enough to stay in earshot.
The girls disappeared around the corner, their whispers trailing behind them like a thread I couldn’t catch.
A chill settled at the base of my spine. I didn’t need the details. I didn’t need to ask. I knew.
By the time I made it to the breakfast courtyard, the nobles were talking about it like it had already entered court legend.
“She spoke with such clarity.”
“Isabella’s connection is undeniable.”
“If the late Luna warned him, shouldn’t he be listening?”
I sat through the meal without touching my plate. Emma wasn’t there. Damon wasn’t either. His seat remained conspicuously empty.
The Elders filled the silence with soft nods and polite sips of coffee–but their glances seared into me. Watching me. Weighing me.
Isabella’s name was on everyone’s tongue. But no one dared say mine.
By the time I saw Damon again, it was already midafternoon. He was standing at the far edge of the northern balcony, hands braced on the stone railing, his eyes scanning the distant forest beyond the palace walls.
I approached quietly, but he didn’t turn.
I stopped beside him and said nothing for a moment. The wind tugged at the hem of my sleeve. I watched his hands, the way his fingers flexed slightly. Tension lived in every line of his body.
“Did Isabella really do it?” I asked softly. “Summon a spirit?”
He didn’t move. I tried again. “What did she say?”
His jaw worked once before he answered. “It was a trick. A show.”
“But the court believed it.”
“They’ll believe anything if it’s good enough gossip.”
That wasn’t an answer.
“Did she speak to you directly?”
He finally turned his head to glance at me–but not fully. Just enough to let me see the way his gaze slid away from mine like he couldn’t stand to look at
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me for too long.
“Isabella said what she thought would cause the most harm.”
I nodded slowly and took a step back.
I didn’t argue. Didn’t press. The wind felt colder now. The sun had shifted, and the warmth that had touched my shoulders when I arrived was already gone.
“I see,” I whispered.
He didn’t stop me as I turned and walked away.
The corridor outside the balcony was dim and empty, lit only by thin beams of sun slicing between heavy drapes. My footsteps echoed too loud against the marble. My pulse thudded beneath my ribs.
Ruby hadn’t spoken since the whispers began that morning. She was watchful. Waiting for some other shoe to drop.
I’d seen this kind of silence before. It came before a storm.
I passed a decorative alcove just before the western wing turned–and caught the reflection of myself in the polished glass of the armory case.
Hair braided neatly. Collar high. Eyes fierce. Perfect on the outside–just like every Luna was trained to be.
But I wasn’t sure it was me.
“You look tired.”
I turned sharply. Asher was leaning against the edge of a carved column in the corridor, arms folded across his chest, one ankle crossed over the other
like he’d been waiting for me.
His tone was casual, even warm–but his eyes were too sharp for the words to land softly.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” I said, more stiffly than I meant to.
“I wasn’t sneaking,” he replied. “You were just too deep in your own head to hear me.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
The hall was quiet. No servants. No advisors. Just tall arched windows spilling tight onto pale marble and the echo of my own heartbeat thudding in my
ears.
Asher straightened and walked toward me, hands in the pockets of his jacket. He stopped a few feet away and tilted his head.
“So,” he said. “The séance.”
My spine went tight.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Too bad,” he said. “Everyone else is.”
I looked away and he sighed dramatically. “Look, I’m not here to pile on. But you should hear it from someone who doesn’t wish you ill or gone.”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Asher’s expression softened, but it didn’t lose its edge. “You weren’t supposed to be chosen, Lila. That’s not judgment—it’s just fact.”
The words hit harder than I expected. I took a step back, but he didn’t follow.
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Chapter 106
“I know that,” I said quietly.
“Do you?” he asked. “Because I think you’ve been pretending all of this happened because you earned it.”
“I never pretended anything,” Isnapped.
He raised an eyebrow at the obvious lie.
I huffed, “You know what I meant.”
“You didn’t scheme, no,” he said. “But you stepped into someone else’s place. Right girl, wrong name. That’s how it started. And you’ve been trying to catch up ever since.”
I turned away, toward the window. The sunlight had cooled to a bruised gold, casting long shadows across the floor. I didn’t want to hear more. But something inside me already knew what was coming.
“Asher,” I said slowly. “Why does everyone look at me like I’m not really here?”
He hesitated. Then: “Because to some of them, you’re not.”
I turned to face him fully.
“What do you mean?”
He exhaled. “You really don’t see it?”
“See what?”
“The resemblance. The voice. The eyes. You remind them of Natalie, Damon’s first mate.”
The world tilted. “You mean I remind him.”
Asher nodded. “You’re not her. But you look enough like a ghost to make people forget that.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, wanting a barrier between me and this conversation.
Bu Asher didn’t stop. “That mark? That connection? It wasn’t meant for you. You got lucky.”
“Stop.”
“Lila-”
“I said stop.” My voice broke, just a little.
Asher quieted. His expression softened into one of concern.
I stared out the window to hide the sting behind my eyes. “It’s not just about being chosen,” I said. “It’s about being enough. Being me.”
“I know.”
I turned back to him slowly. “Why tell me?”
He shrugged once, tired. “Because you need to hear it, that you’ve been a substitute twice over. And so you can decide if you’re still going to fight for it.”
I didn’t answer. There was nothing left to say. left him there in the corridor, my steps quiet, my breath shallow. I went back to my rooms and locked the
door.
The moment it clicked shut behind me, the weight of everything hit all at once. The air felt too thick. The room too still.
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I pressed my palms against the edge of the vanity, head bowed, trying to keep the tears from falling Ruby curled up deep inside me and went wit
I stayed there, alone with my reflection, and realized I wasn’t grieving a throne,
I was grieving the possibility that no one–not even Damon–had ever seen me at all.
