The council chamber remained frozen after Alaric’s words.

No one moved or breathed properly.

Blood continued dripping steadily from the severed head in Alaric’s hand onto the stone floor beneath him. The sound echoed too loudly in the silence.

One of the elders looked moments away from bursting out in anger. Another slowly lowered himself back into his chair with trembling hands.

The military heads remained completely still and even King Elijah had not spoken yet.

Alaric finally released the elder’s head.

It hit the floor heavily beside the council table and rolled once before stopping.

No one dared look away from him.

Alaric stepped fully into the chamber afterward, calm despite the blood staining his hands.

His composure frightened them more than the violence itself.

The doors closed completely now.

Finally, Alaric spoke again.

"Good." His voice remained low and controlled when he parted his lips. "Now that everyone understands the consequences of speaking carelessly about my mate..." His gaze moved slowly across the room. "We may continue."

Several elders exchanged quick glances among themselves before immediately looking away again but no one answered.

The room had changed.

Moments ago, they had been discussing Aire openly like she was an object awaiting disposal.

King Elijah slowly straightened from where he had half-crossed the table moments ago.

His gaze remained fixed on Alaric for a long second.

"You killed a council elder."

Alaric looked toward him calmly. "He insulted my mate."

"He called for her execution," one military head muttered under his breath, almost as if trying to justify the death retroactively.

Another elder immediately silenced him with a sharp glance. At the moment, no one wants attention near themselves right now.

Alaric wiped the blood from one of his fingers slowly with a cloth taken from the table.

"I did not come here to discuss the elderly." He said simply.

Torak narrowed his eyes slightly from where he stood near the far side of the chamber.

Xander had not returned. After his confrontation with Elijah earlier, no one knew where he had gone.

However, Alaric’s presence alone already shifted the atmosphere enough.

King Elijah exhaled slowly through his nose. "Then why are you here?"

Alaric reached slowly into the inside of his coat.

Several guards stiffened instantly and one even touched the hilt of his weapon instinctively.

Alaric ignored all of them completely.

Then finally, he withdrew an old folded parchment. The edges were worn heavily with age.

Parts of the parchment were damaged from moisture and time. One entire corner appeared torn away completely.

The moment the parchment appeared, several elders leaned forward instinctively.

Torak’s posture straightened.

King Elijah’s eyes sharpened immediately.

Alaric placed the parchment onto the council table carefully. "I finally found this tonight."

One elder frowned faintly. "Found what?"

Alaric’s eyes lifted slowly toward him. "The original record of the prophecy." He said casually, with a shrug of his shoulder.

The elder stiffened.

Murmurs broke out instantly around the chamber.

"The prophecy?"

"That’s impossible."

"The original texts were lost centuries ago."

Alaric leaned one hand against the table slightly. "No." He corrected calmly. "They were hidden."

King Elijah stared at the parchment for a long moment before finally speaking. "Where?"

Alaric’s expression darkened slightly. "In the lower archives beneath the western cathedral ruins."

Torak frowned. "That place collapsed generations ago."

"Partially," Alaric answered. He dusted his hand, and pushed back the strand of his hair that fell over his forehead.

The room became quiet again.

Alaric’s gaze moved briefly toward the parchment. "I searched for this document for days." His voice lowered slightly afterward. "Ever since the prophecy began being quoted differently across the realm. I read it once somewhere as a child, and went back to search for it for days."

King Elijah’s eyes narrowed.

Alaric continued calmly. "The wording never sat correctly with me when repeated by humans."

One elder scoffed quietly despite himself. "The prophecy has remained unchanged for centuries."

Alaric looked toward him. "Wrong," he said softly. "Only repeated."

Torak stepped closer toward the table now.

Alaric unfolded the parchment slowly. The paper crackled faintly beneath his fingers. The ancient writing stretched across the surface in faded dark ink.

Several lines were partially ruined by age.

One section near the bottom had been completely torn away.

Still, the room recognized the markings instantly.

It was the old Seer’s script.

King Elijah stared at it silently.

Alaric rested his fingers lightly against one of the lines. "This was written directly by the last royal seer before her death."

The chamber remained deathly still.

One elder finally swallowed and stepped closer carefully.

"Read it." King Elijah ordered the elder.

Alaric’s eyes lifted toward him.

The elder hesitated beneath that gaze before lowering his attention toward the parchment.

His voice came out uncertainly at first as he began reading aloud. "When the marked moon rises beneath cursed skies, the wolves shall stand at the beginning of their ending, and the marked one with a half moon behind her ear shall walk between blood and ruin..."

His voice slowed faintly now.

"The old races of faes shall answer her awakening..."

Torak’s eyes sharpened immediately.

The elder kept reading. "And wolves shall fall..."

The room shifted uneasily again.

"There," another elder snapped instantly, pointing toward the parchment. "That is exactly what we’ve been saying."

Several council members nodded immediately in relief.

"Yes."

"The prophecy still confirms destruction from her."

Alaric stared at them in silence. Then finally, and very quietly, he ordered. "Read it again."

The elder frowned faintly.

Alaric’s gaze sharpened slightly. "Carefully this time." He warned.

The room quieted again.

The elder looked irritated now more than uncertain. Still, beneath Alaric’s stare, he lowered his gaze back toward the parchment.

This time, he read slower. "When the marked moon rises beneath cursed skies..." His eyes moved downward again. "The wolves shall stand at the beginning of their ending..."

He continued.

"And the marked one with a half moon behind her ear shall walk between blood and ruin..."

Suddenly, the elder stopped.

His expression changed instantly and the room noticed it immediately.

Torak stepped closer. "What?"

The elder stared harder at the parchment now. His face paled slightly.

"The old races..." he whispered slowly.

His eyes widened.

King Elijah moved around the table immediately. "What?"

The elder looked up finally. "The prophecy doesn’t say she destroys the wolves."

The entire chamber froze at once.

Another elder snatched the parchment immediately. His eyes scanned the lines rapidly. Then suddenly, his expression changed too.

Torak reached for the parchment next.

The military heads began standing now.

Torak’s eyes narrowed sharply as he read. "The wolves shall stand at the beginning of their ending..." He looked up afterward. "That does not mean she causes it."

No one spoke as realization and shame masked their expression.

Torak’s gaze moved back toward the text again. "It means her appearance marks the beginning of our end."

The room went silent all over again, and understanding spread slowly and horribly across several faces.

One elder shook his head immediately. "No."

Alaric’s voice cut across the room calmly. He met their eyes one by one. For centuries, they have spread the wrong lines of the prophecy. "You interpreted the prophecy as an accusation instead of the warning it came as."

The elder looked toward him sharply. "The marked one still appears alongside ruin."

"Yes," Alaric answered evenly. "And so do the faes."

King Elijah’s eyes darkened immediately at the mention of the faes. He doesn’t mind executing Aire for her fae blood, if only she wasn’t the mate to his sons.

Torak straightened fully now.

Alaric tapped another faded line on the parchment. "The old races of faes shall answer her awakening."

His voice lowered. "The faes were always part of the prophecy. So it’s either they answer her awakening to join her in destruction, or to fight her."

The room felt colder suddenly.

Several elders looked visibly unsettled now.

One military head frowned deeply. "That still changes nothing. Her appearance coincides with destruction."

Alaric looked toward him calmly.

"And yet," he said softly, "wolves have already begun disappearing before Aire used her powers."

No one answered, because he was right.

The border was being attacked with suppression wounds, and the missing patrols. All of it had started almost immediately after Aire arrived, but still, she visibly had no hand in it.

King Elijah slowly sat back down.

His expression had changed entirely now.

Alaric continued quietly. "The prophecy never said the marked one destroys the wolves."

He let the words settle before finishing: "It says the marked one appears when the end begins."

The difference hit the room like a physical force.

One elder staggered backward slightly into his chair.

Another whispered under his breath, "Dear gods..."

Torak looked toward Elijah slowly. "The kingdom misread the prophecy." His gaze darkened faintly. He grew up believing on a mis interpreted prophecy.

Silence swallowed the chamber.

King Elijah looked back toward the parchment slowly. Then toward the blood still staining the floor nearby.

He looked toward Alaric. "You searched for this the entire time?"

Alaric nodded once. "I began the moment Aire was accused."

Torak frowned slightly. "Why not speak sooner?"

Alaric’s expression hardened faintly. He hated being challanged. "I did not have proof."

His eyes lowered briefly toward the parchment. "And because I knew if this document truly existed..." His voice darkened. "Someone had a reason to hide it."

One elder spoke quietly now. "The missing sections..."

Everyone looked toward the torn parts of the parchment. They didn’t look like they fell off. They looked cut out.

Alaric nodded slightly. "Somebody removed them deliberately."