Chapter 6 Peace In Disguise

Dawn came so quickly as the light was still mixed with darkness a bit but I hadn’t slept. The warning that came before I parted with Rae still echoed in my head. It stayed glued to my thoughts and I couldn't get over it.

When the first horn sounded from the watchtower, I was already outside, putting on my cloak and ready for what was ahead. My fire burned quietly beneath my skin but restless and unsteady. Rae stood near the stables, checking the saddles with his usual glare. He looked like he hadn’t slept either.

“You’re early,” he said, raising his head up to look at me.

"I could say the same to you,” I replied.

He adjusted the strap on his horse to make it firmer. “Theron doesn’t trust this meeting, neither do I. Moonshade’s peace offers don’t come without knives hidden under the table.”

I gave a faint smile. “Then I suppose we bring our own along.”

Theron appeared some moments later, escorted by two Crescent guards. His expression could not be used to predict his thought, but the tension in his jaw spoke volumes. “We leave in the next hour,” he said. “Kael claims they want reconciliation, but I doubt his sincerity.”

I doubted this ‘peace’ too. Moonshade had taken everything from me. They took my father, my name and my place. Now they are seeking peace? I chuckled faintly at this thought.

It was a long and silent road to Moonshade. The trees were totally covered in fog, and the ground smelled of rain and ash. Theron rode behind me and Rae rode ahead of me, as though they were protecting me. Every time a branch cracked, the guards stopped suspiciously, expecting ambush.

I wasn’t scared of danger but my memory because the closer we were to the border, the louder my past became.

When we finally saw the gate of Moonshade from a distance, my heart skipped. The tall black towers, the stone walls carved with the Moon Goddess’s sigil – it still felt the same, unchanged and unforgiving. The place I once called home.

We waited at the gates where the emissaries dressed in white cloaks stood with their banners lifted high as a symbol of peace. But I saw what lay behind their calm faces – old hatred, sharpened into politeness.

The man who stepped forward wore the Alpha’s crest. It was Kael, Alpha Kade’s cousin.

“Alpha Theron,” Kael said smoothly, his tone honeyed but hollow. “We welcome the Crescent Pack to Moonshade, in the spirit of unity.”

Theron’s voice was steady. “We have come as agreed, to discuss terms of alliance and peace.”

Kael’s cold gaze shifted to me. “And the cursed one,” he whispered it loud enough for the others to hear. “Moonshade’s mistake has returned.”

The flame beneath my skin had surged in anger before I could stop it. The air glimmered as the atmosphere suddenly went hot. Guards stepped back with their hands on weapons. Rae moved toward me instantly, his hand brushing my arm as a silent plea to control it.

“Careful,” Kael said with a sarcastic smile. “We wouldn’t want your… condition to get the better of you.” He said.

Every instinct in me screamed to burn the smirk off his face, but Theron’s voice broke through my rage and thought. “Enough.”

Alpha Theron's command cracked through the tension like thunder. I forced my power down, felt it claw at my chest before obeying. The air cooled again, but everyone had seen it. Everyone had felt it.

Kael’s smile widened like he was victorious in its mockery. “How fascinating,” he said softly. “The rumors don’t do you justice.”

Theron ignored him. “Where will the meeting be held?”

“In the Hall of Dawn,” Kael said. “Our council awaits. Come, let’s not waste the Goddess’s light.”

As we followed Kael through the gates, each step felt like we were walking through a graveyard. I saw the training field where I once sparred with Kade, the tower where the elders burnished me from Moonshade and the courtyard where my father’s body was burned even under the moonlight.

The memories pierced my heart like knives. But this time, I didn’t flinch.

The meeting was a blur of formality. It was all talk of treaties, trade, shared borders. Kael’s voice was velvet laced with venom, every word crafted to sound generous while concealing a trap. Theron matched him with the same calm diplomacy Crescent was known for.

I didn't say much. All I did was watch and wait.

As the elders dismissed us, Kael approached me. It seemed he tried so well to stay calm. The guards watched from a distance, pretending not to listen.

“You’re still the same,” he said. “The fire suits you.”

“I never asked for your opinion.” I retorted.

He leaned closer to me and whispered, “You don’t have to stay glued to Crescent. The ritual begins soon. You can still choose the winning side.”

I frowned. “What ritual?”

But he only smiled like a predator behind a polished face. “When the time comes, you’ll understand. And when you do, remember this – peace is just another kind of war.”

Then he walked away, leaving the words to fester. It was that moment I understood what he meant by ‘the ritual begins soon’. He meant the war.

That night, I couldn’t sleep as the full moon hung above Moonshade’s walls, painting everywhere in a pale light. I sat by the window of my quarters, thinking of everything. From the Ember Queen to the trap Kael is about to set for Crescent pack all because of me.

Rae had gone to patrol while Theron had retired early, as he wasn’t ready to argue politics any longer. I owned the night and it came with whispers.

A letter slid through my window. I opened it but only one sentence was written in Kael’s hand:

“The ritual begins soon. You can still choose the winning side.”

As I read the letter, my fire flared on my fingertips. The parchment with me curled and blackened with the ink burning to nothing but ash. I watched it crumble, the heat licking my palms.

“Not this time,” I whispered.

But the flames wouldn’t stop. They danced higher, bright and alive, until the reflection in the window sparked and for a heartbeat, it wasn’t my face staring back.

It was hers, ‘The Ember Queen.’

Her eyes glowed gold and crimson, her voice threading through the crackle of the fire.

“You walk among liars, child of flame,” she said. “The peace they offer is unclean.”

The moment was short as the vision faded away, the fire vanished and the room went dark.

I stood frozen with my heart pounding and smoke was still curling from my fingertips. Outside, the horn of Moonshade sounded long and low.

I could hear the warning and see the signal.

Then came another whisper. This time faint, but clear enough to slice through the silence.

“Run, flame-bearer,” it said. “They’ve already chosen.”

Out of nowhere, a strong wind blew through the room shattering the window and scattering Kael's ashes into the night window shattered as a gust of wind tore through the room, scattering the ashes of Kael’s letter into the night. Darkness filled the place where sacrifice could have been.

Something was coming and this time I knew peace wouldn’t save anyone.