Raine's heart thundered as she stood between the two brothers—Xavier's pain-wracked eyes begging her not to go, Ezekiel's cold promise of truth beckoning. The Trial Mark burned against her skin, a tether she hadn't chosen but now bound her to both destinies.
She took a shuddering breath. "I need answers," she whispered.
Xavier flinched, as though struck. Ezekiel's lip curled into a triumphant smirk.
"Wise choice," Ezekiel murmured, extending a hand that glowed faintly with silver energy. "Come. I'll show you the truth behind the Council's lies."
Raine hesitated only a moment before slipping her hand into his. The instant their skin touched, power rippled through her—cool and searing at once. Xavier's anguished shout echoed behind them as Ezekiel guided her toward the hidden door revealed by the Trial.
The door swung open on silent hinges. Beyond lay a spiral staircase carved from moonlit stone, descending into crystalline darkness. Raine's pulse pounded, but Ezekiel's grip was steady.
"Why should I trust you?" she asked, voice echoing on cold walls.
He didn't look back. "Because Xavier would have killed you if not for me. And the Council will kill you either way. I'm the only path to the answers you deserve."
She swallowed, stepping forward. "And what happens after I learn the truth?"
Ezekiel paused on a landing lit by a single glowing rune. "Then you decide." His gaze flicked to her Trial Mark. "That binding—it can be broken."
Raine's hope sparked. "Even after I'm bonded?"
He nodded. "But only if you prove yourself worthy." He descended again, leading her deeper.
At the staircase's end was a vast cavern, its domed ceiling lost in shadows. Along the walls, thousands of silver runes pulsed like silent mouths. The air was thick with secrets.
"This is the Chamber of Whispers," Ezekiel said softly. "Every lie the Council ever told is etched here. Every betrayal."
He pressed his palm to a rune. Instantly, the walls came alive with murmured voices—snatches of forbidden rituals, decrees to murder Lunaris-born, and the names of those who'd been sacrificed. Raine's breath caught as she recognized her own name among them, listed with an expiration date long past.
Tears blurred her vision. "They condemned me before I was born."
Ezekiel closed his eyes. "They erased your lineage to control power. And they used Xavier's loyalty against him."
Raine staggered. "He didn't know?"
"No. He only discovered the Council's plan when they sent him to kill you." Ezekiel turned, face gentle. "He chose to save you instead. But you deserve to hear it from me."
Her heart twisted. "I… I need a moment."
He stepped back, giving her space. The whispers faded to silence, leaving only the drips of unseen water and her own ragged breaths.
When Raine turned back to Ezekiel, he held two crystalline daggers—one dark as obsidian, the other pale as moonlight. "To break a bond," he explained, "you must bathe in equal parts shadow and light. These are the instruments."
Her Trial Mark pulsed between them. She looked down at Xavier's anguished face, visible through a gap in the chamber's entrance, tears in his eyes.
Ezekiel's voice was soft. "Choose your path, Raine. Shade or sun. Rebel or savior. But choose."
Raine's breath caught. Her hand hovered between the daggers, her heart torn. The whispers of the Council's lies still echoed in her mind—and the bond that Xavier had refused to break for her, even as he saved her life.
Slowly, she lifted the pale dagger of moonlight, the metal cool against her fingers. Ezekiel's eyes softened. "Good."
She watched as he began the ritual—tracing the rune of binding at her wrist, the knife's edge just kissing her skin. A gentle pain seared into her, and the Trial Mark flared brilliantly.
Xavier's shout turned to a roar, but he did not enter the chamber.
Raine closed her eyes, tears of determination mingling with fear. The light dagger drew a glowing line beside the first mark; the shadow dagger followed in perfect symmetry. Two wounds, two truths.
The chamber's runes erupted in a chorus of light and dark, swirling around her in a vortex of power.
When it subsided, Raine stood alone, the Trial Mark transformed—wreathed now in silver and shadow. The bond was not broken, but reforged on her terms.
She opened her eyes to find Ezekiel smiling, pride and sorrow mingled in his gaze.
"You have chosen your destiny," he said.
And as he led her back toward the entrance
—past Xavier's astonished form—Raine knew that the true trial had only just begun.