Page 153
Story: Ashes to Ashes
And in the Seelie section, almost lost among the glittering nobles, I spot Finnian. His amber gaze finds mine across the distance, and for a moment I see such desperate love that my throat closes. His composure is completely gone—hands shaking, face pale, looking like he’s been physically struck by the sight of me walking toward destruction.
All three of them forced to watch while I face this alone.
“Ashlynne Moonshadow,” the Morrigan’s voice carries across the chamber with supernatural clarity. “You stand before the assembled courts to prove your worthiness for the crown of Wild Court royalty. Do you accept the terms of the Trial of Truth?”
My throat closes around words I don’t want to speak. But backing down now would mean death—theirs as well as mine.
“I accept.” The words come out steady despite my racing pulse. Like accepting a mission I know will probably kill me.
“Then approach the Truth Stone and place your hands upon its surface. Know that once contact is made, no lie can pass your lips, no deception can shield your thoughts, and your deepest memories will be shared with all who witness this trial.”
Stone drops into my stomach. Shared memories. Everyone in this chamber will see whatever the stone decides to reveal. Every shame, every failure, every moment of weakness I’ve spent a lifetime hiding.
I force myself forward, bare feet finding the dais. The Truth Stone pulses brighter as I approach, silver light growing so intense it casts shadows behind my ribs. When I place my palms against its surface, agony explodes through my nervous system.
This isn’t magical energy—it’s invasion. Ancient power burrowing into my consciousness like ice picks driven through my skull, tearing through mental barriers I’ve spent decades constructing. The stone doesn’t just compel truth—it rips it from my mind, tears it from my soul, and displays it for public consumption like organs spread on an autopsy table.
The moment my skin touches stone, I scream. Not a sob—a tactical assessment delivered at maximum volume. This is what violation sounds like when you can’t lie about it. The sound tears from my throat raw and primal, echoing through the chamber with magical amplification until crystal fixtures ring like struck bells. Blood erupts from my nose as the stone’s power floods my unprepared system, magical violation so brutal my body convulses like I’m being electrocuted.
“The court recognizes three questions,” the Morrigan announces over my screaming. “One from each realm, designed to test the fundamental qualities required of royal leadership.”
Lady Amarantha rises from her throne, violet eyes gleaming with anticipation. She’s been waiting for this moment, I realize through the agony. Waiting to destroy me in front of everyone I care about.
“Seelie Court presents the first question,” she announces, her voice carrying across the chamber like crystalline bells. “What ugliness do you hide beneath your royal facade?”
The Truth Stone explodes with silver fire that feels like molten metal being poured directly into my brain. Agony beyond description tears through my skull as the stone reaches into my memories, searching for the exact moment of shame that will destroy me most completely.
I try to resist, try to push it away, but the magical compulsion is absolute. It feels like having my mind flayed with broken glass while something with claws sorts through the wreckage.
No, please, not that?—
Too late. The memory erupts above my head in perfect holographic detail, so vivid that everyone in the chamber doesn’t just see it—they feel it. Every emotion, every sensation, every moment of terror and desperate calculation flooding through their consciousness like a virus.
I’m crouched on a rocky outcrop above the desert basin, scope trained on the narrow stretch of sand skirting Eternal Hollows. The heat warps the air, but not enough to blur the man pacing below.
Greyson.
Even six hundred meters out, I’d know him anywhere—red hair catching fire in the sun, freckled skin Vanessa traced with reverence in every story she told me. Her mate. Her anchor. The one who could make her laugh even when she wanted to burn the world.
My comm crackles. Kendall’s voice this time. “Target acquired. Clear shot. Your call, Morgan.”
But this isn’t just a target. This is the man Vanessa loves. The one who brought her back from the edge more than once. The man who trusted me.
The man now marked as compromised—Persephone’s reach extending too far, the gods uncertain if he’s still working for us... or if he’s become a weapon she’s steering.
“Do you see it?” Kendall again. Tighter now.
I do. Greyson shifts. Touches the center of his chest, where Vanessa used to sleep curled against him. Then he turns toward something only he sees, and for a split second, he looks right up the hill.
Like he knows.
My finger settles on the trigger.
If I don’t take the shot, someone else will. Someone who won’t aim clean. Someone who won’t make it fast.
This way, he goes down quick. He doesn’t see Vanessa’s face twisted in grief.
“Shot confirmed,” I whisper.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153 (Reading here)
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213