I CLAIMED THE DISCARDED LUNA

Chapter8: The Shadow of Loyalty

The cold air inside the subterranean bunker smelled of damp stone and bitter dried herbs.

Kaelen stood before the mountain of wooden crates, a single vial of the glowing blue wolfsbane extract resting in his gloved palm. The pale light reflected off the hard angles of his jaw, his crimson eyes unreadable.

Beside him, Seraphina ran her fingers over the wax seal stamped into the side of a transport crate.

"The seal belongs to the Northern Imperial Pharmacy," Seraphina said softly, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "Wolfsbane processing at this concentration requires a high royal permit. It isn't made in back-alley laboratories, Kaelen. It was refined inside your own capital capital's alchemy wing."

Kaelen’s fingers tightened around the glass vial. "The capital alchemists report directly to the High Council of Dukes. The same council that dispatched the Royal Crown Guard to cut us off in the pass."

"And the same council that pushed you to strip Vane of his command at sunrise," Seraphina added, turning to face him.

She watched him closely, seeing the quiet, heavy storm behind his eyes. He didn't roar. He didn't smash the crates. He simply stood in the cold dark, absorbing the brutal truth that his capital was rotten to its core.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Kaelen asked, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register that cracked with rare, suppressed pain.

Seraphina stayed silent, letting the question hang in the quiet cavern.

"Vane pulled me off the field at Red Ridge," Kaelen continued, looking down at the glowing liquid in his hand. "He trained me. He sat at my right hand for ten years. If he discovered the High Council was refining poison and bribing the Crown Guard... why hide it from his King? Why build a secret mountain bunker instead of coming to my war room?"

"Because to Vane, you aren't just his King," Seraphina said gently, stepping closer until she was standing directly at his side. "You're the nineteen-year-old boy he saved from the blood. He didn't tell you because he didn't think you were ready to dismantle your own council."

Kaelen turned his head, his dark gaze locking onto hers.

"Vane is a soldier of the old era," Seraphina explained, her violet eyes holding his with steady, uncompromising clarity. "He believes kings command armies, while commanders handle the dirty, bloody work behind the throne. He didn't trust you with this, Kaelen, because he believed keeping you clean was the only way to protect your crown."

Kaelen stared at her, feeling a sharp, quiet ache in his chest. "Arrogant old fool."

"He is," Seraphina agreed softly, a tiny, sad smile touching her lips. "He thought he could fight a shadow war in the capital while keeping you on a high pedestal. But by keeping you in the dark, he left himself open to Alden's trap and left you defenseless against your own council."

Kaelen let out a long, heavy breath, the tension in his broad shoulders shifting from shock into cold, razor-sharp resolve. He slipped the glass vial securely into his inner coat pocket.

"He was wrong," Kaelen said, his Alpha aura pulsing gently around them no longer suffocating, but warm, solid, and protective. "I don't need a commander to keep my hands clean. I need my empire intact."

Seraphina looked down at his coat where the vial was hidden, then up into his eyes. "So what is our move, Your Majesty? The High Council believes Vane is stripped of his title and you're stranded in the mountains. They think they've won."

"Then we let them think it," Kaelen purred, a dark, lethal spark returning to his crimson eyes. "We don't march back to the citadel with an army. We return under the cover of night, bypass the compromised Crown Guard at the main gates, and breach Vane's house quarters."

"You want to confront him in secret," Seraphina observed, her mind already calculating the logistics. "Before the High Council realizes their ambush in the pass failed."

"I want answers from my old General," Kaelen corrected, stepping toward the heavy iron doors of the bunker. "And then, Advisor, you and I are going to show the High Council what happens when they try to poison a Frostfang King."

Seraphina followed him out into the howling mountain blizzard, wrapping her grey wool cloak tightly around her shoulders.

As they mounted their horses at the edge of the ledge, Kaelen reached across the space between their saddles, his gloved hand catching her reins to steady her mount against a sudden gust of wind.

Seraphina looked at his hand on her reins, then met his gaze. She didn't pull away.

"The capital will burn if we get this wrong, Kaelen," she warned softly over the roaring wind.

"Then we make sure we don't get it wrong," Kaelen replied, his grip firm and reassuring on her reins before releasing them. "Ready to hunt some dukes, Lady Seraphina?"

A fierce, victorious smile broke across Seraphina’s face as she kicked her horse into a trot alongside his. "Lead the way, Your Majesty."