Chapter 5 - Rafael Revealed Why Gareth Had Kept Alice Hungry for Ten Years
The siege lasted three days.
No one entered.
No one left.
Rafael surrounded the palace with enough forces to overwhelm every gate.
But he didn't attack.
He waited.
Kalin understood why.
“He wants us afraid.”
Alice stood beside him at the battlements.
“He already knows I'm afraid.”
“Yes.”
“You're not.”
“I am.”
She looked at him.
He smiled faintly.
“I just don't let fear choose my actions.”
On the second night, Gareth's old Beta appeared under a white flag.
He wanted to speak to Alice.
Kalin refused.
Alice insisted.
The meeting took place in the courtyard.
The Beta knelt.
“I was ordered to keep you alive.”
Alice stared.
“By Rafael?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make the Moonblood bloodline easier to control.”
“How?”
“You had to reach adulthood.”
Alice felt sick.
“So every beating…”
“Was calculated.”
“The food?”
“Enough to keep you weak.”
“The collar?”
“To suppress your wolf.”
Alice touched her throat.
Kalin's jaw clenched.
“How did it suppress her?”
The Beta answered:
“Silver threaded through the inner lining.”
Kalin's eyes went black.
He took one step forward.
The Beta flinched.
Alice stopped him.
“Wait.”
She looked at the man.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because Rafael plans to kill me.”
Alice believed him.
The Beta continued.
“Your father wasn't dead when Gareth first took you.”
Alice's heart stopped.
“What?”
“He came looking for you.”
Kalin stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Blackwater.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
Alice's knees weakened.
“He tried to rescue me?”
The Beta nodded.
“Rafael stopped him.”
“How?”
“He showed your father the contract.”
Alice stared.
“He told him if he attacked Ironwood, Gareth would kill you.”
Kalin's voice became cold.
“My father surrendered?”
“He had no choice.”
Alice closed her eyes.
For ten years, she had believed no one had come.
But someone had.
Her father had looked for her.
He had been stopped by the same contract that had trapped her.
Her suffering had been used to control a king.
The truth hurt differently than abandonment.
Kalin reached for her hand.
She held his.
The Beta lowered his head.
“There was another reason.”
“What?”
“Rafael wanted Alice to hate the royal family.”
“Why?”
“Because if she returned willingly, she would have joined them.”
Alice understood.
He needed her isolated.
Hungry.
Ashamed.
Invisible.
Then he would arrive as a savior.
He would tell her Gareth had been defeated.
He would offer her a crown.
And the realm would be his.
Alice looked at Kalin.
“He doesn't want me dead.”
“No.”
“He wants me dependent on him.”
Kalin nodded.
“Exactly.”
That night, Alice had a dream.
She saw her mother.
Elara stood in a field beneath the moon.
“You are not the wound they gave you,” she said.
Alice woke crying.
Kalin was beside her.
He had been sleeping in a chair across the room.
“What happened?”
“My mother.”
“What did she say?”
Alice shook her head.
“I don't remember all of it.”
He sat beside her.
“That's okay.”
She rested her head against his shoulder.
“I am scared.”
“I know.”
“What if I'm not a queen?”
“You don't have to be.”
“What if I don't want any of this?”
“Then we walk away.”
She looked at him.
“You would leave the throne?”
“For you.”
She stared.
“That is not something a king should say.”
“Then I'll say it as a man.”
He touched her cheek.
“I choose you.”
The bond flared.
Alice's wolf finally emerged fully.
She felt it for the first time in years.
Not starving.
Not terrified.
Strong.
A howl escaped her.
The palace windows rattled.
Outside, thousands of wolves fell silent.
Even Rafael looked toward the palace.
He had felt it.
The Moonblood had awakened.
The next morning, Alice walked onto the battlements.
Every wolf below looked up.
Her eyes shone gold.
Rafael stepped forward.
“Do you know what you are?”
Alice called down.
“Yes.”
“You are mine by blood.”
“No.”
“You are the lost queen.”
Alice looked at Kalin.
Then back at Rafael.
“I belong to myself.”
Rafael's face twisted.
“You have no idea what you're rejecting.”
“I reject chains.”
He laughed.
“You've been wearing them for ten years.”
Alice touched her throat.
“No.”
She looked at Kalin.
“They are already broken.”
Kalin's eyes darkened.
Rafael finally attacked.
The gates shook.
The siege began in earnest.
Wolves clashed.
Magic flashed.
The air smelled of snow and blood.
Alice stayed near the healers.
She refused to hide.
She treated wounded wolves.
She helped carry the injured.
Her hands became what they had been before Ironwood.
Not symbols of service.
Hands of healing.
By sunset, the palace remained standing.
Rafael withdrew.
But he had stolen something.
The Moonblood journal.
The original one.
The one proving Alice's lineage.
Kalin stared at the empty vault.
“How?”
Victor, released from his cell under supervision, stepped forward.
“I know.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Rafael has someone inside the palace.”
“Who?”
Victor's face went pale.
“Theron.”
The council elder.
Alice's mother had warned her.
Kalin turned toward the council chamber.
They arrived too late.
Theron was gone.
And on the throne lay a note.
COME TO THE OLD FOREST.
BRING THE GIRL ALONE.
Kalin crushed the paper.
“No.”
Alice looked at him.
“We have to go.”
“I won't risk you.”
“You won't be alone.”
He stared.
“You said this was my choice.”
“Yes.”
“Then let me choose.”
He hesitated.
May you like
Then nodded.
“Together.”
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