Vow of Moonlight

VOW OF MOONLIGHTMorgana Stewart Contents Title PagePrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter Eighteen Chapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-TwoChapter Twenty-ThreeChapter Twenty-FourChapter Twenty-FiveChapter Twenty-SixChapter Twenty-SevenChapter Twenty-EightChapter Twenty-NineChapter ThirtyChapter Thirty-OneChapter Thirty-TwoChapter Thirty-ThreeChapter Thirty-FourChapter Thirty-FiveChapter Thirty-SixChapter Thirty-SevenChapter Thirty-EightChapter Thirty-NineChapter FortyChapter Forty-OneChapter Forty-TwoChapter Forty-ThreeChapter Forty-FourChapter Forty-FiveChapter Forty-SixChapter Forty-SevenChapter Forty-EightChapter Forty-NineChapter FiftyChapter Fifty-OneEpilogueEpilogue Copyright © 2023 Morgana Stewart.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Please note that this book is a dark fantasy, with serious themes. TW: rape (one specific instance with following references), PTSD, suicide references, smut, gore, death, grief, anxiety, kidnapping and disease. For Holly PrologueDeath has already won.The Moonlight deities, the humans, the witches, and my siblings of Shadow foolishly think there is some war to fight.They think they can vanquish me, but this is not a war. I have been dancing at my victory celebrations for centuries because I won the moment I was created.The humans may pray to the Moonlight gods, the deities themselves may hope, the witches can call on their powers, and my siblings may try to believe otherwise, but there is no need for optimism and courage. I have already won. Chapter OneDEFENCELESS AURORA “Ow!” I stared down at my finger and watched the bead of blood bloom. Transfixed, I lifted my hand as the red swelled, trickling down my finger and melting into the small creases of my skin.“Are you hurt?” Prince Elias looked up from his seat, where he had been reading in the sunlight from my bedroom window.“No, it’s nothing,” I said, not wanting his concern. I stood, dipping my hand into a golden basin on my dressing table. “I just caught myself on the spindle.”“This is why you shouldn’t have thread-spinning as a hobby.” He smiled. “Not to mention it’s the most tedious hobby I could imagine.”“We could do something exciting like archery in the grounds, but that would defeat the point of this room. We’re meant to be hiding,” I said, and then I foolishly blushed. The reason that no one would expect us to be in here was that it was improper for the courting couple to be alone in a bedroom. I really didn’t want to think about why.He grinned at me, and I was once again reminded that he was handsome, and forced to wonder if I should be thinking about that more. Elias turned his attention back to his book, and I resumed spinning, but my eyes were on Elias’s face—studying my betrothed.He was beautiful. He had short corkscrew hair, dark skin, sharp eyebrows, kind eyes, and the nicest smile I had ever seen. When he offered me that warm expression, I did feel happy. That was important, wasn’t it?We had only met a week ago, the day after my eighteenth birthday, and were immediately engaged to help my kingdom in the midst of a formidable war with Griserean, the kingdom that Henley ruled. It had only been waging for five months, but it was costing us greatly. Elias’s kingdom, Iramere, had the money we desperately needed. In an engagement with such conditions, it made sense that I wasn’t yet sure of my heart or my feelings towards Elias.Except for the fact that I’d known I wouldn’t love him before he’d even arrived.It wasn’t as if my heart belonged to another, it was just… I hated thinking it. I especially hated thinking it when I was seated so close to Elias, now trapped by my side for life.A sudden shout came from outside the window and we both jumped. I stood, wanting to see out into the grounds, but Elias had gotten up and was attempting to block my way.“What?” I demanded, snatching my arm from his grip.Regret flickered across his brown eyes. “We shouldn’t be near the windows in case it’s King Henley’s men getting close. What if they fire arrows?”I pointedly walked to the window. “Elias, I know I’m afraid of my own shadow but there’s no danger of an attack—the war is not being waged in the courtyard. Look, that shout was just some men arriving back from fighting, probably yelling out thanks for Kaden. My father should be with them,” I added, trying to keep my heartbeat steady. If he was back, then he would soon announce my wedding day. I could be walking down the aisle tomorrow.“Hm, alright,” he replied, inching towards me and the window.“Besides,” I continued, “if Henley’s men were really in the grounds, we would all be dead soon anyway. Standing away from the window wouldn’t help.”“That’s a cheery thought.”“We shouldn’t be afraid, though,” I said, mostly to myself as my own words had made my cowardly heart beat ice through my body. “Henley is weak, and my father is known throughout the kingdoms for his armies. After all, he is the one who banished dragons from our lands, and the knights are constantly vanquishing trespassing creatures. Before the war, it wasn’t a normal week unless there was a griffin head brought into the throne room.”“And now you have my money,” Elias added, nudging me with his elbow. “You are welcome.”I smiled back but, at his words, the ice that had been pumping around my body froze and the air in my lungs locked in place. Sometimes it felt like marriage was far worse than war.“If that is my father returning,” I said before he could read any terror that was hidden just underneath my expression, “we should return to the throne room.”Elias nodded, knowing as I did that we were already to be in trouble for escaping my ladies’ maids, who were meant to be chaperoning