Lila
The council chamber smelled the same as I remembered, yet everything felt different. The ceilings were still high, the banners still bright, but I had lived too long under open skies to be impressed by politics.
Whispers filled the room as we entered, rippling like wind over tall grass, hushed but restless, carrying every name they’d called me in my absence: ghost, witch, pretender, lost Luna. I let them have their words; I had better ones.
Damon walked beside me to the dais, then stopped. He didn’t reach for me or correct the murmurs that rose as I took a step forward. I could feel his gaze, his voice clear though a mind-link: Together, my mate.
The elders waited in a half-circle before the throne with mixed emotions. At their center stood a Councilor I barely remembered, thin a
