Luna Everleigh's POV
***
The moon hung high, silver and whole, as I stood before the council of elders.
The great hall, still bearing the scars of war, was filled with murmurs, the weight of a kingdom's uncertainty pressing down on me. Rhydian stood beside me, his presence a steady force against the tide of doubt.
I had made my choice.
I wasn't going back to the human world.
I wasn't sure I even could.
"This is unprecedented," one of the elders said, his voice aged but sharp. "The Lunar Guardian line has ended, and yet she remains. What is she now?"
A question I had asked myself too many times.
Rhydian's fingers brushed against mine—just enough to remind me I wasn't standing alone.
Kael stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "She's Luna," he said simply. "And she's the reason we're still alive."
The hall fell into silence.
I exhaled slowly. "I don't know what I am anymore," I admitted. "But I know this—I'm not your enemy. I chose this world. I chose you." I glanced at Rhydian. "Him."
The elders exchanged glances.
Then one of them—an older woman with streaks of silver in her dark hair—spoke. "Then perhaps it is time we stop looking at what was lost… and start embracing what was gained."
And just like that, the tide shifted.
The murmurs changed. The doubt faded.
I had a place here.
Not as a guardian. Not as a savior.
But as Luna.
And that, for the first time, felt like enough.
—
***
To be continued...