King of Blood

Chapter 32 - Lyanna

Lyanna moved methodically through her apartment, packing her belongings with cold efficiency. She didn't linger on any one item, her focus on completing the task rather than indulging in sentiment. The papers from the Unseelie Court were scattered across the kitchen counter, their jagged edges and scrawled ink a stark reminder of the life she was about to re-enter.

Issiah leaned against the counter, his arms crossed as he watched her. His gaze flickered to the intelligence strewn about, the faint tension in his jaw betraying his discomfort. The silence stretched between them, heavy and oppressive, until he finally spoke.

"Jehovah told me," Issiah said carefully, his voice low, "what you told him. About... what Aleksander did to you."

Lyanna didn't pause in her movements, her expression remaining impassive. "It's not a secret anymore," she said, her tone cold and dismissive. "It's just another fact of my life. Something I can't escape."

Issiah frowned, his brow furrowing. "Lyanna—"

"If it keeps Jehovah alive," she interrupted, her voice sharper now, "then it's worth it. Aleksander can use it against me all he wants. I've survived worse."

Issiah straightened, his arms dropping to his sides as he took a step closer. "Jehovah won't stand for this," he said firmly. "You know he'll fight it. He won't let Aleksander have you."

She finally stopped, turning to face him with a weary look in her eyes. "He has no choice, Issiah," she said quietly. "Jehovah is in no position to bargain. Aleksander has won. He always wins."

Issiah's lips pressed into a thin line, his frustration evident. "You don't believe that," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I believe in reality," Lyanna replied, her tone flat. She turned back to her packing, her movements brisk and purposeful.

When her bag was packed and slung over her shoulder, she disappeared into the bedroom to change. She emerged minutes later, clad in her black leathers—the training armour of the Unseelie Court, a second skin that felt both familiar and suffocating.

Issiah's gaze softened as he saw her, his earlier frustration tempered by an unspoken understanding.

Lyanna adjusted the straps on her gloves, her expression unreadable. "We should go," she said simply.

Issiah nodded, pushing off the counter and following her to the door. The weight of her decision hung heavily between them, unspoken but impossible to ignore.

As Lyanna stepped into the hallway, she cast one last glance around the apartment. The memories she had made here felt like a distant dream, a fleeting glimpse of a life she would never have again.

Without another word, she turned and walked away, Issiah at her side.

The moon hung low in the sky as they approached the twisted trees hidden deep in the woods. The Unseelie Gate loomed before them, its presence humming faintly with magic. It was a secret long-guarded, its location known only to those who served Aleksander directly—or those he permitted to pass through.

Issiah whistled softly, his expression one of begrudging admiration. "So many of our soldiers died trying to find this gate," he said, his voice low. "And here I am, just waltzing through. Feels... wrong."

Lyanna glanced at him, her face impassive. "The gate doesn't care who you are," she said simply. "It only cares that you've been granted passage."

As they stepped through the veil, a cold sensation rippled over her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. The air on the other side was heavier, darker. The forest that surrounded the Unseelie lands was dense and oppressive, its gnarled trees stretching high into the night.