The summons arrived before sunset.
Elara was still in the apothecary when a palace messenger appeared at the doorway, clad in the silver-and-black colors of the crown. The moment his eyes found her, the room seemed to shrink.
"Elara Nightwind," he announced formally. "By decree of the Royal Council, you are to present yourself at the Hall of Judgment before nightfall."
Every hand in the apothecary stilled.
Her pulse spiked.
So soon.
In her past life, the council had waited until after the Mate Ceremony, once she was publicly bound to Kael and politically vulnerable. This time, they weren't waiting.
They sensed change.
"I haven't done anything wrong," Elara said calmly, though her palms were damp with sweat.
The messenger's expression remained blank. "You are not being accused. You are being questioned."
A lie.
Elara nodded. "Tell them I'll come."
The moment he left, the room erupted.
"Elara, don't go," an elder healer whispered urgently. "No one leaves the Hall untouched."
Elara forced a small smile. "Then I'll make sure I'm memorable."
The Hall of Judgment was colder than she remembered.
Torchlight flickered against towering stone walls carved with the laws of the realm. At the far end, a semicircle of high-backed seats loomed—each occupied by a council elder cloaked in ceremonial gray.
Kael Blackthorn stood to the side of the hall.
Watching.
Her stomach twisted.
He didn't intervene as she was led forward. Didn't speak. Didn't even acknowledge her presence.
Good, she told herself.
Let them think I stand alone.
"Elara Nightwind," High Elder Morvain intoned. "You have been called to answer concerns regarding your conduct."
"Which conduct?" Elara asked coolly.
Murmurs rippled.
"Your refusal to attend the Mate Ceremony," Morvain continued. "Your defiance of Alpha authority. And your unusual reaction to a bond that has not yet been activated."
Elara met his gaze evenly. "The ceremony is a tradition, not a law."
Morvain's lips thinned. "You forget your place."
"No," Elara replied softly. "I remember it very well."
Kael's eyes snapped to her.
"Careful," Morvain warned. "You carry lunar magic. Power that has no allegiance. Such power is dangerous in the wrong hands."
Ah.
There it was.
Fear.
In her previous life, they had praised her magic publicly and feared it privately—until the day they decided she was too powerful to keep alive.
"You are proposing restrictions," Elara said.
"Protection," Morvain corrected smoothly. "For the realm."
Two guards stepped forward, holding a silver circlet etched with suppression runes.
Elara's blood ran cold.
The binding circlet.
They had used it on her after she became queen.
She had never taken it off again.
"No," she said sharply.
Kael moved then.
"Enough," he said, voice cutting through the hall like a blade.
All eyes turned to him.
"This is premature," Kael continued. "She has broken no laws."
Morvain inclined his head slightly. "Your Majesty, with respect, the safety of the realm—"
"I will not allow you to shackle her based on suspicion."
Elara stared at him in shock.
Too late, she realized the danger.
Morvain smiled.
"Of course," the elder said smoothly. "Then perhaps you would prefer another solution."
The torches flickered.
The air thickened.
A hidden rune ignited beneath Elara's feet.
Pain ripped through her body as lunar energy surged violently out of control. She cried out, collapsing to her knees as magic burned through her veins like liquid fire.
Gasps echoed.
Kael swore.
"What have you done?" he roared.
"A test," Morvain said calmly. "To see whether her power answers the crown… or resists it."
Elara screamed as silver light burst from her skin, cracking the stone beneath her. Memories flashed violently—her execution, her rebirth, the bond snapping.
The hall shook.
Kael lunged forward, grabbing her shoulders.
"Stop," he ordered. "End it now!"
Morvain's eyes gleamed. "Fascinating," he murmured. "She remembers."
Kael froze.
"What did you say?"
The rune shattered.
Elara collapsed into Kael's arms, shaking violently.
Silence fell.
Kael looked down at her pale face, terror twisting his chest.
"Remove her from the hall," he ordered coldly. "Now."
The council didn't argue.
This time.
Elara woke in a quiet chamber.
Soft sheets. Warm light. A faint scent of pine and smoke.
Kael.
She stiffened, pushing herself upright.
"Don't move," he said from the shadows. "You almost tore the palace apart."
Her eyes met his.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
"You knew," she whispered. "You knew they'd hurt me."
"I didn't know they'd test your magic," he replied tightly.
"You knew they wanted me controlled," she shot back.
Silence stretched between them.
Kael stepped closer.
"Tell me the truth," he said quietly. "Why did you look at that circlet like you'd worn it before?"
Elara's heart pounded.
She smiled faintly.
"Because I have."
The words hung between them like a death sentence.
Kael's breath hitched.
And in that moment, he realized something terrifying.
His mate wasn't just resisting fate.
She was ahead of it.