The summons came without warning.
Not from the council.Not from the wards.
From Alisha's mother.
The message was brief, sealed with a sigil Alisha had not seen since childhood.
Come alone.
The words tightened something in her chest that no battlefield ever had.
Rowan objected immediately. "You don't know why she's calling you."
"I know exactly why," Alisha replied, already reaching for her cloak.
Caelan took a step forward. "Then don't go alone."
She met his gaze steadily. "If I don't, it won't be a conversation. It'll be a confrontation."
The Eclipse stirred—uneasy.
This was not a threat it could intercept.
The Lunar Sanctum was colder than she remembered.
Moonlight poured through the high arches, silver and severe, illuminating the familiar figure standing at its center. Lady Seraphine of Valoria—former Lunar Regent, mother to the heir—stood with her hands folded, posture immaculate.
"You changed the wards," Seraphine said without turning. "Without asking me."
Alisha stopped several paces away. "I didn't ask permission from the past."
Seraphine turned then, her expression sharp—not angry, but wounded.
"You broke the covenant I spent my life preserving."
"I saved the people it was breaking," Alisha replied quietly.
Silence stretched.
"You've invited shadow into yourself," Seraphine continued. "Do you know what that makes you?"
Alisha swallowed. "Human."
Seraphine's composure cracked—just slightly.
"That is what terrifies me."
The words struck harder than condemnation ever could.
"I sacrificed choice so you wouldn't have to," her mother said. "And you threw that sacrifice away."
Alisha stepped forward. "No. I honored it by refusing to repeat it."
The moonlight pulsed violently.
"You're becoming something the moon cannot control," Seraphine said. "And neither can I."
Alisha felt the truth settle like a blade between them.
"I don't want your control," she said softly. "I want your understanding."
Seraphine looked away.
"I don't know how," she whispered.
That admission hurt more than rejection.