Chapter 79: What if she’s the Luna?

The air in the council chamber grew heavy after Madam Tyler’s quiet but piercing words.

"What if she’s the Luna though?" Madam Tyler asked.

No one gasped. No one even shifted in their seats. Everyone was used to her pronouncements, used to the way she spoke of signs and omens as if they were as tangible as stone. Instead, a collective stillness spread, and all eyes slid toward Orion at the head of the table like he was required to answer her.

Orion didn’t even flinch. He’d heard this before. "You know the stories as well as we do, Madam," he said, his tone even but faintly edged. "And you know the myths change depending on who’s telling them and where they come from."

Ronan leaned an elbow on the table, his eyes glinting with a smile. "I’m sure everyone knows this but just a reminder in case you all have forgotten. Those from the south say the Luna has red-hair with eyes like blue fire. The West claim she has black hair and green eyes. The East swear she has brown hair and golden coloured eyes. And our own myth?" He flicked his gaze to Madam Tyler. "We believe she has white hair with eyes like the moon. And while Sophia has beautiful moon like eyes, she doesn’t have white coloured hair. She is not the Luna."

"Myths are fragments of truth," Madam Tyler said sharply, her fingers tightening on the carved head of her staff. "Truth worn thin by time, passed through countless tongues. You all know as well as I do the shrine outside our grounds has been there for centuries. Centuries. No written history, no oral tradition can account for it. And suddenly...suddenly, this girl can read the language that we’ve been trying to translate for years? How is that possible?"

"She could have been taught," Caspian cut in, his voice, hard. "You keep circling this like it’s divine intervention when it’s far more likely it’s a manipulation by Victoria."

"Stop twisting everything into the Enclave," Madam Tyler snapped. "This isn’t about Victoria."

"It’s always about Victoria," Caspian shot back, his deep voice rising. "We are in this mess because the Enclave won’t leave us be. Spies, threats, and now a girl who conveniently appears at that altar with knowledge about a lost language?"

"That’s exactly why we must find out who she is," Daniel interjected, his broad shoulders stiffening as he leaned forward. "You’re both right about one thing, this isn’t normal. Her being able to translate the language is already a sign. Not even Eldric after all his years of study could do it. Tobias couldn’t find us any information about the language either. We need to know what she is before we start throwing words like Luna or prophecy around."

Madam Tyler bristled, her silver-streaked hair trembling around her face. "It is because no one has been able to read it that she is important! Can’t you see that? We have been blind for too long, dismissing every sign as coincidence, every omen as superstition..."

"Oh, spare us the sermon, Madam," Caspian snapped, his patience fracturing. "You’ve been singing this same hymn for years. You’re chasing ghosts and calling them prophecy. The girl could be anyone. She could be a weapon meant to gut us from within."

"She could also be the answer to everything we’ve been waiting for," Madam Tyler shot back, her voice rising, full of trembling conviction.

"And she could be nothing," Caspian growled. "A pawn. A decoy. A trap. You’d risk the entire pack on your faith in a bedtime story."

"And she could also not be. I don’t believe someone who can wreck havoc unintentionally just by moving or walking could be sent by Victoria." Madam Tyler insisted.

"And it’s because of your belief that this could very well bite us in the butt. Stop with your fanatical nonsense. The myth about the Luna is false. Take Victoria for example. She is the self acclaimed Luna and look what’s happened to us." Caspian argued.

"The prophecy said in a time of need..."

"So you mean to tell me that when we were sent out like pigs ready for a slaughter and— mind you we still have bounties on our heads—the moon goddess wasn’t aware? It wasn’t a time of need?" Caspian asked her.

"You just want argue for the sake of it."

"I’m trying to make you see sense, but obviously you can’t, not with how much of a devout rubbish you are."

"My devoutness is what protects us."

"Your charm is what protects us and not your devoutness."

"Don’t be an idiot. I’m trying to make you see..."

"Reason? Clearly? Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to make you do too." Caspian replied her.

The words struck like blows across the table. Daniel straightened, his own voice hardening as he cut between them. "You two are acting like children. The only fact we have is that she read the language, and that is dangerous enough. We have to discover who she really is. That’s it.’

But Madam Tyler wouldn’t yield. "And you think dragging her memory out will tell you who she is? She’s already told you who she is, the signs are plain if you’d just open your eyes."

"Enough!" Orion’s voice cracked through the room like a whip. But the argument rolled on, louder now, Madam Tyler pressing her faith, Caspian scoffing at her every word, Daniel hammering the point of suspicion.

Ronan sat back, arms crossed, his lips thinning into a grim line. Mary watched from her place quietly, eyes darting between the elders like a swordsmith watching two blades clash. Tobias, once more looked like he’d rather be anywhere than here.

"Enough," Orion said again, his tone sharper. Still no one stopped. Madam Tyler’s staff clanged softly against the floor as she spoke over Caspian’s barked retorts. Daniel tried to interject, his voice pitched above them both.

And then Orion slammed his palm against the table, hard. The impact reverberated through the chamber, and a low, menacing growl rolled from deep in his chest, a warning from the Alpha, quiet but unmistakable.

Silence fell immediately.

Orion’s eyes burned with a cold light as he scanned the table. "We are not here to claw at each other like feral pups," he said, his voice a low growl "We are here to decide how to move forward. You want to throw prophecy and suspicion around? Fine. But do it quietly in your own rooms, not in my council hall when we have other matters to discuss."

No one dared answer him.

He straightened, his hands still flat on the table. "Like Daniel said, yes, Sophia reading that language is strange. Suspicious even. That’s why we are trying to help her recover her memory. That’s why Eldric went with her to the shrine this morning." His jaw tightened. "And that is why Eldric should be here now."

He turned sharply toward the door. "Guard!"

A young sentry appeared instantly, bowing his head in greeting.

"Fetch Eldric," Orion barked, his voice a snap of command. "Now. And tell him I’ll make do on my promise if he doesn’t detcah him self from his mate."

"Yes, Alpha," the guard said, hurrying out.

The heavy door shut behind him. The chamber remained silent, the elders’ faces shifting between defiance, unease, and something like shame.

Orion exhaled slowly, as if steadying the storm inside him. "Sophia is the first issue," he said at last. "But she is not the only one. If we keep bickering like this, the festival will be here before we’ve done a damned thing about any of it. We need to start acting like leaders, not squabbling children even if I know that is our inner self."

Madam Tyler’s grip on her staff loosened fractionally. She lowered her gaze but did not sit back. "Then allow me to speak before you move on."

Orion’s eyes flicked to her, still sharp but less cutting. "Speak."

"I feel something brewing," she said softly. "I can’t yet define it, but it’s there, like a storm over the horizon." She paused, her throat working as she swallowed. "When I entered our shrine this morning, I found a charm lying on the floor. One of the protective talismans."

All heads turned to her.

"You saw it fall?" Ronan asked quietly with interest once more.

Madam Tyler shook her head. "No. I only saw it on the ground. But for it to reach the floor at all is a bad omen. Those charms are bound to their places with wards older than any of us. They do not break unless something breaks them."

Caspian shifted, his scowl softening just enough to let a silver of doubt show. "But a charm falling doesn’t make her the Luna."

"No, it doesn’t but it makes something wrong," Madam Tyler replied, her voice steady now, quieter but no less firm. "I don’t know what yet. But if the shrine outside is stirring, and the shrine within is losing its protections, then we are standing at the edge of something we may not be able to control."

Orion said nothing for a long moment. Around the table, the others exchanged wary glances, the weight of her words settling like dust on their shoulder.

"Um... pardon me but, who said the shrine outside is stirring?" Ronan asked with a frown.

Orion released a sigh as the elders chuckled lightly. Leave it to Ronan to bring up something to dispel the tension. But things were far from over and this meeting was only just beginning too.