Chapter 27: The Bloodmoon Trial
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Its red glow spilled over the altar stone, and across the sigil of the Dark Moon etched on my brow.
I stood at the center of the ancestral hall.
Before me—the ancient tribunal: high-backed thrones of the Five Founding Clans.
This was once Meredith’s court.
Now, her body lay behind me.
Wrapped in white linen.
Still and silent.
Killian stood to my left, gripping the scroll of verdicts, solemn as a statue.
“Daphne Silverfang,” the High Arbiter intoned, his voice echoing through the stone hall,
“You stand accused of slaying Luna Meredith Silverfang. How do you plead?”
I raised my head.
My voice was steady:
“I killed a traitor.”
“A woman who murdered her husband, sacrificed her son, usurped the military, and plotted civil war.”
“She was Luna. Not a god.”
“She was my mother—but not human.”
A murmur rippled through the clans.
The arbiter frowned. “Do you have proof?”
I nodded.
Clapped twice.
Amy and Tai entered, hauling rolls of parchment and sealed documents.
Behind them, elders—once under Meredith’s command—now sworn to Moonfall.
“These are her orders,” I said.
“Every hidden troop movement, every silenced noble, every blood ritual—recorded.”
“They include the price she paid to the Moon: her firstborn son.”
“And her secret attempt to raise a bastard heir—one who would one day replace me.”
“Lies!” the Silverflame clan rep barked. “You defame the dead!”
I laughed—cold.
“Then look at me.”
“I am the proof.”
“You want testimony?”
I turned to the assembly and lifted a hand.
“Then let the survivors speak.”
First came an old man—once Firekeeper at Meredith’s earliest blood rites.
Then a grizzled beastkin, forced to oversee slave punishments.
Finally, a noble daughter—white-haired, shaking—who’d once been ordered to poison her own brother.
One by one, their stories came forth.
Painful. Raw.
Undeniable.
And slowly, the tribunal grew silent.
Killian stepped forward and read aloud:
“Clan Law, Article 76:
Any Luna found guilty of kin-slaughter, oath-breach, or betrayal of the Moon shall be stripped of divine title—regardless of station.”
“By this law, the title of Luna is revoked from Meredith Silverfang. Her godhood—annulled.”
The hall went still.
Then someone cried out:
“LONG LIVE DAPHNE!”
Another voice joined. Then another.
Like thunder rolling across the mountain:
“DAPHNE — LADY OF THE MOON!”
“DAPHNE — SYMBOL OF FREEDOM!”
But I did not cheer.
I looked down at the shrouded corpse behind me.
She was still the same woman—cruel, commanding.
But now, just a body.
I whispered:
“Goodbye, Meredith.”
“Once I thought you were divine. Then, I believed you a monster.”
“Now I see the truth—you were only a woman.”
“A woman eaten alive by fear. Trapped in the power she worshipped.”
“I will not become you.”
Killian stepped closer, voice soft but sure:
“Daphne. The clans need you now.”
“Be our Luna.”
I looked at him.
For a heartbeat, warmth flickered in my chest.
But then I shook my head.
“I don’t belong on that throne.”
“I came from the dungeon—from numbers and chains.”
“And I’ll lead them—to build a new land.”
“A place with no numbers. No whips. No blood seals.”
“Out there… they don’t call me Luna.”
“They call me—Boss.”
Killian laughed under his breath.
“Can I live there?”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’ll need to pass the interview.”
