Chapter 27: The Trial of Two Lunas

The rescue had to wait for law. Nora hated that sentence. She hated it so much she nearly walked out of Blackridge with a blade and no plan. Darius stopped her by saying Maeve deserved more than Nora's fear dressed as courage. He was right. She hated that too. Councilor Venn convened an emergency trial in the Blackridge ceremony hall, the same room where Rowan had rejected Nora. The irony was too sharp to ignore, so Nora used it. She wore white again. Not the torn dress from rejection night. Frosthold had sent a gown plain enough for court and bright enough to make Iris's blue look like a bruise. Iris stood on one side of the Luna stone. Nora stood on the other. Rowan was forced to watch from a lower bench. "This hearing concerns Luna status, forged marks, and the misuse of bloodline relics," Venn said. Iris looked bored until the first witness entered. The old Blackridge healer. Nora had not seen him since the night he told Rowan there was no pregnancy. He shuffled to the stand with his eyes on the floor. "Did you examine Nora Ashford during her marriage?" Venn asked. "Yes." "Did you report infertility?" The healer's hands shook. "I reported symptoms consistent with heat suppression." The hall stirred. Rowan stood. "You never told me that." The healer looked at him then. "You told me to write barren." Nora closed her eyes for one breath. There it was. Not suspicion. Not memory. Record. Iris scoffed. "A frightened old man will say anything." Venn gestured to the Luna stone. "Then we proceed to blood response." The stone was smaller than the Council relic, kept for pack ceremonies and Luna appointments. Iris had touched it the night Rowan named her. It had shone faintly blue. Nora knew now that the necklace had fed it stolen light. Iris placed her hand on the stone first. Nothing happened. "Again," she demanded. Nothing. Then the stone darkened under her palm. The false mark at her collarbone split open again. Iris screamed and jerked back, but Venn's clerk had already recorded the response. Rejected. Nora stepped forward. Darius stood close enough to catch her if she fell, far enough not to influence the test. Rowan watched with an expression she could not name. Fear. Want. Loss. All too late. Nora placed her injured hand on the stone. For a moment there was only cold. Then the baby moved. The stone lit silver from within. Not blue. Not soft. Silver, crowned, and bright enough to make every Blackridge banner show its dust. Wolves dropped to their knees. Not all. Enough. Nora tried to pull her hand away, but the stone held. A voice came from the back of the hall. "The child responds, not the woman." Cassian Thornveil stood beneath the open doors with Maeve bound in front of him. Every guard turned too late. A silver blade touched Maeve's throat. Darius's wolf surged. Cassian smiled. "Finish your little trial, Councilor. Then decide whether your true Luna cares more for a stone or a servant." Nora looked at Maeve's bleeding mouth. Then at the Luna stone still burning under her hand. The hall waited for her to choose.