When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the Palace of Moonlight. The dilapidated ruin was now pristine, restored to how it had
been before I was cast out. For a moment, I was disoriented, forgetting what year it was. I thought I was still that carefree young
princess.
But when I looked down, I saw that my body was translucent, almost ethereal.
Of my seven celestial feathers, only one remained. And it was cracked down the middle.
I knew my time was short.
As I stirred, a bell beside my bed chimed.
Soon, Aurelius was there. Seeing me awake, he fell to his knees beside my bed, clutching my hand tightly. “Thank the heavens,
Rhea, you’re awake! The Soul–Sustaining Needle I retrieved from the Southern Sea has stabilized your spirit!”
His touch sent a jolt of terror through me. I was terrified of men, terrified of their proximity.
“Get away! Don’t come near me!” I shrieked.
Aurelius immediately let go and stepped back. He soothed me, his voice gentle. “Rhea, don’t be afraid. I know everything. What
happened in the Abyss. I’ve seen your wounds… From now on, I will protect you. No one will ever hurt you again.”
His eyes were red, his jaw clenched, as if he were consumed by a desire for vengeance on my behalf.
But I was not moved.
Chapter 2
12 10
I had once thought that if Aurelius ever learned of my shame, I would wish for death. But now that it had happened, I felt a strange
sense of release.
My voice was a whisper. “Your Highness, my seven feathers are broken. It is my time to go…”
“No! I forbid it!” Aurelius cried. “If I can stabilize one feather with the Needle, I can restore the others! Rhea, wait for me. I will find a
way to make you whole again!”
I closed my eyes. My weak body couldn’t hold on for long.
I don’t know how long I slept. A soft voice called my name. “Rhea. Rhea, wake up.”
I opened my eyes to see Aurelius smiling. Four thousand years ago, when we were children, he used to smile at me like that. The
Aurelius I loved was never the lofty Crown Prince. He was just the childhood friend who smiled at me.
Seeing me awake, he looked even happier. He held up a severed head, offering it to me with a placating smile. “Look. I have aven-
ged you.”
I looked closer. It was Zael’s head.
Seeing my former tormentor reduced to this, I felt a flicker of satisfaction. But it had come too late.
I forced a weak smile. “Avenged me? My enemies are scattered throughout the Abyss. Killing one Zael means nothing.”
“No, not just the Abyss. The Celestial Realm, too. Your lieutenant who lashed me three hundred times but told you it was only
three… when you have killed him, then we can talk about vengeance.”
I was dying. I had nothing left to fear.
As expected, Aurelius froze. “The lieutenant? Why… why would he do that to you?”
I turned my back to him. “Go and ask him yourself. I’m tired. I need to sleep.”
I slept for three hundred years.
When I awoke, the handmaidens told me the Prince had been on a rampage in the Abyss for three centuries. Everywhere he went, he left a trail of blood and slaughter. Anyone who had touched me bore the mark of a phoenix feather. Aurelius had commissioned a compass that could detect these marks, and he had used it to hunt them all down.
The thought of all those who had violated me being dead should have brought me joy. But my heart, like my body, was a ruin. I felt
nothing.
I just quietly counted down the days, waiting for my last feather to break. That would be my true release.
