Aesira cursed the guards for putting Ulkos beside her.

If it had been hard to resist talking to him before, it was impossible now. Part of the problem was she didn’t want to stay silent when he spoke to her. She always wanted to respond. After weeks or months of being down there with the only people speaking to her being her interrogators, she was starved for interaction.

She hadn’t been foolish enough to give in immediately. They were both safer the less they knew about each other. However, Ulkos didn’t seem to grasp that. Which made it hard not to talk to him, and even harder not to trust him when he has sacrificing half of his portions for her.

Every time she did respond, the question in the back of her mind was: What good would it do? Them exchanging little stories or commenting on the quality of the food or even making fun of Prince Veremund didn’t help get either one out of there or closer to ending the suffering.

Thankfully, the guards were slow to return and even slower to patrol the dungeons. But Aesira still always held her breath every time they walked by, boots hitting the stone. The sound echoed in her ears. She kept her wings curled tightly to her back and one eye on Ulkos as a thousand questions raced through her mind.

Had they heard them speaking? Were they here for him? Were they here for her? Was it finally all going to be over?

But they didn’t open her cell, nor Ulkos’. They were left to rot in peace. Every night they didn’t take either one of them, Aesira’s stomach only churned faster The anticipation was almost worse. Almost.

When Aesira started responding to Ulkos’ questions in the night, it wasn’t long after she started asking some of her own.

Surely, it couldn’t hurt them if they only talked about things that couldn’t be used against them or their people.

She was leaning against the bars, her wings wrapped around her and her knees drawn to her chest, the position she had found that had given that gave her the most warmth combined with Ulkos’ cloak wrapped around her. He sat facing her, leg, stretched out, and leaning against the bars which were the only thing keeping them from actually being in front of each other.

At her most recent question, he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “Come on, aren’t you tired of that one by now?”

She shook her head. “I thought you liked telling that story, considering you’ve already told it several times.”

He huffed. “That’s exactly my point. You said I told it to someone who never asked for it.”

Her fingers curled into her skin, and she was grateful the top of her wings hid half of her face from him. “I’m asking now.”

His lips shifted into a smile, and she curled in to herself tighter, making sure he couldn’t see the light pink dusting that she was certain was growing on her cheeks. He launched into the story of his capture again, but this time he took his time and poured over the details languidly, his gaze more focused on her than anything else.

He looked at her like she was the only thing in the world.

Or maybe the only thing in his world.

It would be dangerous for them both if that was true. It would be especially dangerous should she let that change anything. She couldn’t let him in. She couldn’t let him be close enough to be used against her.

But he could be a friend.

He could be someone she didn’t want to see starve or be hurt, but not someone she cared about more than she did the princess and her brother.

It was a little frightening just how similar they were. Their upbringings, their parents, their careers, their loyalty.

Soulmates were an old myth, not something Lady Fate actually guaranteed. But Aesira was beginning to see why some of her people believed in them. Not that an elf could ever be the soulmate of a valkyrie, just that she understood now what it was like to see so much of herself in someone else.

Later that day, after they had both dozed for an hour or two in silence, after eating their meager rations, she was lying on her front, arching her back so she could stretch her wings as much as possible while he watched. She couldn’t deny the proud and excited thrill that went through her every time she looked over to see him unabashedly staring at her and her wings with awe and wonder. She never would have thought an elf could look so fondly upon them.

But it was dangerous for all the same reasons. She couldn’t get attached to him, so she called out, “Let me guess your favorite color.”

His gaze turned away from her wings into her face. He grinned. “You really think you can guess? I know I’m going to be offended by the first several.”

She lifted her chin. “I think I’m up for the task. And based on that response alone, I know it’s not going to be any of your people’s traditional colors. That rules out orange, gold and pink.”

“Or maybe I just said that to throw you off.”

He dangled his hands through the bars. He’d been doing that the last several days. She always forced herself to stay out of arms reach when he did. He said, “You never know. I could be a master manipulator.”

She shook her head. “But you’re not.”

He pulled his hand back through the bars and shifted, dropping his gaze to the ground for a moment before saying, “Come on then, give me your best guess.”

She studied him long and hard for a moment. She had to get this right. “Your favorite color is… black.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Well, before I confirm or deny, what’s your reasoning?”

“Simple. You indicated it wouldn’t be any of the traditional colors of your people. No orange, gold, or pink. I know it certainly wouldn’t be any of the traditional colors of the Moon Elves. So that ruled out blues, purples, and silver. Plus, there’s something about you that makes me think it would be something wholly unexpected. So black. All the elves’ lives and magic are centered around light. Your favorite color, however, is the color that is the absence of it.”

That awe returned, and he whispered, “You just might have the measure of me yet, Aesira.”

So the days passed. He eventually, after many failed guesses, guessed her favorite color. The light, warm tawny that speckled across her feathers.

In the light of dawn one day, both of them were pressed up against the bars, her fingers curled slightly around the middle bar. He spoke in soft, low tones, his gaze half lidded and his jaw bruised from the interrogation he’d been through earlier that night. She’d been right they’d be back soon, but knowing that still hadn’t made her feel any less sick when she’d watched him be dragged away.

He told the story about the time he got in trouble stealing a bunch of Sunrise Irises from their neighbors to bring to his sister when she was sick. His voice was thick from the memory of her and she was certain it was from the fact he knew he would never see her again, the way she knew she would never see her brother again. His hand inched closer and closer across the bars, until finally his fingertips brushed hers.

She should pull her hand away. She should sit back out of his reach. But she didn’t. Instead, she let his hand reach out and envelop her own, gripping it tightly. His palm immediately filled her with warmth and just once… Just once couldn’t hurt, right?

Two days later, the younger prince, Emmerich, she thought his name was, came back for Ulkos.

She watched them drag him away, stomach turning. It was always horrifying, being helpless as she watched them break into his cell and drag him away, knowing exactly what was about to happen to him, and being unable to do anything about it. But what made her even sicker was that she still felt relieved it was him and not her. Although she did find it strange, they went a long time after the first interrogation before returning, but then they came back far quicker the next time. Also, ever since they had gotten him, they hadn’t interrogated her once.

But they also hadn’t killed her either. She supposed they were leaving her alone now that they had a new toy to break, like Ulkos had said. Or they just enjoyed torturing a Sun Elf more than her. She wasn’t sure.

All she did know was that the respite she was having at Ulkos’ expense was temporary. She felt it deep in her hollow bones; he was going to break. That much was clear. From all his mindless chatter, and even the not so mindless, despite everything he said and his best efforts, he didn’t have the mettle to be able to resist forever. He clearly hadn’t been trained the way she had to resist torture, even if he was doing an admirable job so far. He didn’t have the assurance she did when she felt no Death Knell, that that day wouldn’t be her last. Soon enough, he would break and give them the secrets they were after, and then they would have no more use for him.

And depending on what it was, they might not have any more use for her either.

Still, sitting in her cell alone in the dark with only moonlight for company, all she could do was look at his spot, her heart in her throat. Her stomach sank. There was no use in denying it.

She missed him. She wanted him right there, smirk on his lips every time she used his cloak as a blanket and an inane question filling the air in the hopes he’d make her laugh. He succeeded more often than not.

She should never have opened her mouth.

The doors opened again and he was being dragged by his arms, his legs dead weight beneath him, and his head slumped in front of him. His black and gold hair all fell into his face, messier than she had ever seen on an elf before.

She stayed perfectly still, refusing to betray her care for him. As far as the guards knew he was no one to her.

He was perfectly still on the ground as the guards shut and locked the door, leaving them alone again. When the door to the dungeons shut, Aesira couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She hurried over to the bars separating them, and she whispered, “Ulkos?”

He lifted his head, bruised and bleeding from a split lip. He gave her a weak, bloody grin. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about little old me. This is nothing.”

She sagged slightly, gripping the bars and bracing her forehead against them.

That was exactly the problem. How worried she was about him.

It wasn’t too late, was it?

Could she still find a way to detach herself from him and go back to her cold, numb existence, where the only thing she cared about was when it would all be over?

She wasn’t fully attached. It couldn’t be that late. Because if she was fully attached to him, it was only going to end badly.

It was going to end badly, no matter what. It was just a matter of how much pain she would be able to spare herself when it did. But then his warm hands brushed over hers.

She opened her eyes to see him kneeling across from her his hands sliding through the bars. His thumb brushed across her skin. Even with his busted lip and bruised face he smiled at her and whispered, “I’m alright. I promise. Have a little faith in me.”

Ulkos was the only ray of sunlight she had seen since she had fallen from the sky.

Could she give it up to go back to the cold, numb darkness?

* * *

Thanks for reading Chapter Thirteen of Chains of Moonlight!

Find all the chapters here!

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6 thoughts on "Chains of Moonlight Chapter Thirteen"

  1. Nicole says:

    I am so obsessed with this story! Aesira is slowly but surely breaking and there is so much tension between them. That internal battle in Aesira is so well drawn out too! Thank you so much for this update, I love your writing so much!

    1. celwrites says:

      She’s warming up to him no matter how much she doesn’t want to! So glad you’re enjoying it! I’m so honored you like my writing so much!

  2. Aunt LoLo says:

    When she figures out who he is, it will break her heart. And his.

    1. celwrites says:

      It’s going to a big, big moment!

  3. Hailey says:

    Oh my poor girl 😭 I love that she has this light, and friendship and is opening up BUT also knowing it’s only going to break her even more in the end is heartbreaking! I am loving this story though and obviously attached to these characters in a very short time, testament to your amazing abilities 🫶 I am equal parts excited and scared to find out what will happen next!

    1. celwrites says:

      That’s the exact tension I was aiming for! I’m so glad you’re loving the story and are already so attached to them! Thank you for commenting!

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