Chapter 264 – The Luna Trials Novel by Marissa Gilbert

Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert

“Care to share?” Forrest folded his arms over his chest as he waited expectantly. Joran knew that he wouldn’t like his idea. Not that Forrest liked any of his ideas before that.

“Who do you think?” The deity taunted. “The only kingdom that we haven’t been involved in this war yet. The one that perished.”

“East?” Forrest scoffed. “Only rogues live there.”

“Exactly. This is why they will be desperate to join us,” A sneer spread over Jordan’s lips. “And do our dirty work.”

A few days ago Astrea ran as fast as she could. She had always been the fastest, but now she was exhausted after a few days of travelling by foot. What could she do, though? If she had tried to go by plane, she would have been caught for sure. And the route she had to use to hide from Joran was impossible to cross by car. She’d had to adapt, but she could feel it with her skin that they were close. The ones she grew up training with were after her now.

It was so stupid. She had been dreaming of escaping for years and never acted on it.

However, when she was ordered to poison the whole royal family of the North and their guests, it did not sit right with her.

Many things did not sit right with her but she’d always executed every order from her superiors. This time was different, though.

Initially she loathed the Luna trials and every single contender who took part in it. She was not interested in the king, believing that he would end up as her target. But then she took a liking to the Western Princess and witnessing her love with the Lycan King bloom, she grew attached. She found Petra funny and her mentor, Evelyn, the picture of a perfect mother she never had. She respected Naya, who was a great warrior but somehow found her biggest value as an amazing and loyal friend. She found it funny how Kyle manipulated the opinions during the Luna Trials broadcasting. At some point, she realised that she liked these people more than anyone else she knew, possibly.

And then she met the Luna of the Western Lycan Kingdom.

Though they barely spoke to each other, Riannon was a picture of kindness, elegance and strength. But most importantly, she felt so familiar…

Astrea was distraught when she received the message to poison them all with the exception of Savannah during her short fake fight with Bjorn in the shrine. She played her role well back then, and no one suspected a thing. All for the greater good…

If it were just one of the kings or even both of them, she would have probably done it. She would have K*lled them as she’d done to many before them.

This time, however, it was a much harder mission because she’d had to live with those people for such a long period of time. But also… just by observing them she knew that they were good rulers. Better than the ones in her kingdom. Maybe they weren’t perfect, but they sought to make the world better and Astrea found it very appealing.

So, she convinced her partner Emma to give the antidote to Savannah while she took care of the poison in everyone’s cups. She’d had to go to great lengths to save them. Luckily, no one was interested in her much, and she managed to sneak out one night and get to one of the secret witch apothecaries in the capital, where she paid a hefty sum for the potion with the desired effect.

She put them to sleep instead of K*lling them at the moment they all fell to the ground, her clock started ticking.

Astrea knew that they would soon discover what she had done, how she had betrayed Joran and the other dragonflies.

And they would never forgive her.

Emma didn’t. She realised that something was wrong first when Astrea tried to dump her in the woods and drive off alone.

But Emma caught on to her suspicious behaviour early on and attacked her before she could do anything. They’d been rivals for as long as she could remember, and Emma was happy to discover that Astrea was a traitor now. She’d intended to reveal the betrayal to Joran, and this was one thing the a*s*sa*s*sin couldn’t allow. Her teacher would never forgive her for this. She knew that much.

It was unfortunate, but she had to K*ll Emma. The other woman kept attacking her and sadly there was no way around that. So, Astrea thrust a dagger into her chest and left. Then she had burned the magical tattoo on her arm, knowing that this could be used to track her. That shimmering dragonfly was a part of her but for now she had to get rid of it. And she would have to keep burning her skin in this place for the rest of her life because her skin would regenerate and the tattoo would shine in its full f0rce again.

She heard the howls and the snarls, speeding up as twigs were hitting her face while she ran. Beads of sweat formed across her forehead and all over her back.

Close. They were so close! The Firstborns were near.

And if they manage to catch up to her, she would be dead by the time the sun set.

Kai’s fingers were covering her eyes for quite some time since he brought her to the woods next to their castle, telling her that it was a surprise.

“Just a few more steps,” he cooed, chuckling at her unhappy face. Savannah hated surprises. She’d had enough of them for ten lifetimes already. All she wanted now was the stability he had been giving her for the last seven months. That was priceless.

She expected a picnic, or maybe another gorgeous view of the North she hadn’t been aware of yet; Kai loved to show her those, and it seemed like the North would never run out of picturesque locations. They managed to do a tour around the country while her pregnancy was still allowing it, and her husband proudly showed her everything that he loved in their country.

A sweet floral scent reached her nostrils, and she stumbled. She had to be wrong about it!

“Is that-” she gasped, and finally, he took his hands away, letting her see why he had brought her here.

It took the Queen a few seconds to adjust to the light, but when she did, she couldn’t find the right words for what unfolded right before her.

“Kai!” she whispered, covering her mouth. “How?”

“The magic of love, my dear,” he winked at her, a wide grin plastered all over his face, “the magic of love!”

A thick blue and violet carpet covered the ground of the forest, and it seemed to be stretching for miles. The delicate flower petals were trembling in the wind, glistening with morning dew in the first rays of sunshine. A picture of serenity and a miracle in flower form.

“But- they aren’t supposed to grow here!” Savvy gasped, glancing back at her mate.

“You have no idea how hard it was to make them grow,” Kai confessed. “But your face right now was so worth the effort!”

“You are a gardener, after all!” the woman giggled, and he turned her to face him and pulled her closer, resting his forehead against hers.

“You were right back then, you know,” he hummed, the sound of his voice vibrating against her skin. “There are no flowers like bluebells. They are… unique…”

He placed a soft k!ss on the tip of her nose.

“Uh-huh,” Savanna’s smile grew wider.

“And beautiful,” Kai’s lips brushed over her lips feather light.

“True,” she agreed, taunting him slightly.

“And the scent drives me crazy!” his voice rasped right before he crushed his lips against hers, devouring her greedily, fingers tangling in her hair and not letting her pull away. Not that she intended such a thing.

A soft whimper left the Luna of the North and Kai immediately stopped.

“What is it?” he stud*ied her face.

“The little princess is kicking me,” Savvy chuckled at her husband’s worried expression. “It looks like she takes after you.”

Kai relaxed a bit hearing it. “I don’t know about that. Sounds just like her mother!”

She pinched him.

“Ouch!” he let out a hearty laugh. “You see what I mean?”

They both laughed, and he turned her around again to wrap his arms around her from behind, enjoying her closeness and this moment of peace they finally got.

But there was something lingering over and tainting their happiness, and they knew it. They always felt it despite all their efforts to pretend that it wasn’t there.

“I will not give her away, Kai,” Savannah confessed all of a sudden. “Not to a God, not to anyone. She is our daughter.”

“I know and I am so sorry for my stupid mistake” The Northern King’s voice broke.

“Don’t be,” she gave his palm that rested on her belly a little squeeze and leaned her head back into his chest. “It was right at the time, but it doesn’t mean that it’s right for us now.”

“Agreed,” Kai k!ssed the top of his wife’s head. “The witches promised her their protection, but in case that’s not enough, I will try to strike new deal. Or-”

“Or what?” Savannah shifted on her feet to face him, locking their eyes.

“Or we will have to find a way to K*ll a God,” Kai told her firmly and he meant every word.

“Is that even possible?” she whispered, afraid to speak too loudly considering what they were discussing.

“Anything is possible with the right motivation,” the King said firmly and pressed his wife tightly against himself.

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