Chapter 252 <fn30a2> Discover more novels at find?novel</fn30a2>


    <i>Zephyrine </i>


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    I paused. No. Everything in me froze. Time stopped for me, and somehow everything else faded, leaving only me with <i>my </i>brother, who had just spoken words I could not even make light of.


    I stared at him nkly for a while and suddenly burst intoughter. Did he just…? I punched him yfully in the chest, giggling.


    “What are you talking about? The Lycan Kingdom has no prince. Lycannar has no pup yet.” I told him, still giggling, but then it hit me.


    The world that had slipped away returned all at once. The tension thickened. The seriousness. on my brother’s face.


    The way he only looked at me with… pity and concern, as though worried how I would take this news. That alone made myughter fade.


    “Five years ago, Zephyr, the Lycan Kingdom had a prince. We all knew him as Apex, and he came to the battlefield on that bloody day.”


    “To save you,” I murmured, nodding, swallowing at the same time. I stepped backward, realizing my heart was thudding too fast. I felt dizzy, but I held on. I tried to focus. “Lycannar told me everything already. He said… he, uhm…”


    I waited, sighing shakily. For a moment I allowed the emotions to settle. Then atst, I looked up at my brother, steady now.


    “Lycannar Blood is the Lycan Warlord.”


    “I know.” My brother’s voice was firm. “Hemanded three hundred and fifty soldiers. Together, they never once lost a battle. I met them on the battlefield.”


    “Lycannar camete. It was full moon, and he said something about not being able to move freely on that day. He arrivedte. He arrived when the battle was already over. He came to inform the Ashmeres that the battle was instigated by our own people. By our own kind. Before he even reached our camp, it was already burning. That man over there.” I pointed at Ran. “He raided it. They cornered you. It was the Council’s order, Varyn. They…”


    “Apex killed our father, Zephyr.” My brother cut me off quietly, his gaze boring into mine. “He ughtered him before my very eyes. In battle it would be fair if he fought fair, but Apex didn’t. He was a monster. He had fangs. Wings. Different from demons, different from Lycans.


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    He killed our father right in front of me, and he is the greater threat. Not these ones. The Council promised us freedom if we turn our des against the Lycan Kingdom. And we will. We will take revenge, and only then can we return to our people.”


    His words came, but I couldn’t hear them. Couldn’t ept them. All I felt was dizziness, a hollow ache spreading inside me. I didn’t know how, but I felt like… dying.


    “Lycan didn’t kill our father,” I murmured, almost to myself. “You are mistaken, Varyn. The Council did. They sent him to an unfair fight against the Abyss. They raided the camp at night, when we were vulnerable.”


    “Zephyr…”


    you said “You wrote it in your letter, Varyn!” I cut him off firmly. “I saw it, I read it. In there someone saved you. A monster, whatever you called him, but it was Lycannar. He saved you from being killed on the Council’s order. He saved you again in ckwater. If it wasn’t for him, or for his sister, gods bless their souls, we wouldn’t be here today.”


    I hadn’t realized the tears were already spilling, burning my cheeks. I wiped them off quickly, refusing to let myself tremble.


    “I know you hate that I chose a Lycan as my beloved. But I promise you, he is a thousand times better than my ex–mate ever was. He treated me well. He loves me. To the world he is cursed, but with me he is kind, supportive, loving. He is the most humble man I know. A benevolent king, adored by his people. He is not a monster, and he wasn’t the one who killed our father. He bowed once before the Moonstone Vessle that carried their ashes. He respected them. He respects you. He cares. He would never…” My voice broke. “…never do that.”


    Varyn did not speak. No one spoke. They only looked at me with emotions I hated. Pity. Worry. As though I had been lied to. Cheated. Deceived. Used.


    Gently my brother reached for me, to pull me into his arms, but I pushed him away, swallowing hard. I did not want his pity. This was not why I wanted him here.


    This was not why I wanted him here. Lycannar would never be my father’s murderer. No way would he have done that and not told me.


    Those were the thoughts shing inside me when Ran’s voice came from where he stood.


    “I raided the Ashmere camps under orders, with my men. I ughtered them. But your father


    wasn’t there.”


    <i>“</i>That’s because he died before they reached the camp, Zephyr,” Lord Osmir of the Council said tly. “We made a bargain we now regret. We feared the Ashmeres were growing too strong, so we sent them into battle to eliminate them. We made a deal with the Demon King<i>, </i>


    9:22 <b>Sun</b><b>, </b>Sep 28


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    but instead it was the Lycan King who epted.”


    “He wanted his son dead,” Lady Sylvara added. “The Blood army alongside him. The battle was finalized before the full moon. The Warlord would not appear. Rumor was he was a monster, impossible to defeat on that night.”


    “The battle was led instead by the Demon Warlord and few of Abyss warriors,” Lord Eryndor finished. “The Blood army was defeated. The Abyss Warlord captured. He was about to be executed when Apex arrived.”


    My brother reached for my hand gently now, sealing everything.


    “We would have won that battle, Zephyr. The Abyss underestimated the Ashmeres. The Blood army died first. We attacked, captured the Demon Warlord, and were about to im victory. But Apex came. Different from anything I had ever seen. The full moon stripped his secrets bare and unleashed his strength. He killed Father in one strike. With that, Ashmere shattered. The formation copsed. We returned to camp already broken. If only, Zephyr, if only he hadn’te that day, the Ashmeres would have survived. The Council’s betrayal would have failed. They will all pay for their sins… but Apex pays first. With everything he has.”


    Words that stunned me, confused me, stole my breath.


    It was all bing <i>too </i>real. They were serious. Every single one of them. And suddenly, standing became impossible.


    Dizziness washed over me all at once, and I sank to the floor. But before I hit the ground, my brother caught me, holding me close, protective as ever.


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