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A Rejected Luna – Her Rise to Power
Chapter 15 – Welcome
MARCIA’S PERSPECTIVE
At dawn, Dravic led me through his military camps.
I wasn’t expecting the warmth.
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It reeked of iron and fire—sweat–stained leather, singed fur, and steel—but the soldiers who welcomed me carried something very different. Respect. A sense of shared memory. An odd nostalgia.
They greeted me with grins and salutes, muttering my father’s name like it still echoed in the wind. And maybe it did. Commander Thane Xendale. My brothers‘ too: Ryke and Arthur, two sides of one coin. Their ghosts lived in the dirt here, in the shouts of sparring soldiers, in the rhythm of drills that never stopped, not even for dusk.
I stood straighter, taking in a deep breath.
Dravic led me past rows of barracks and open tents, his pace brisk, looking back once in a while to ensure I was following. Soldiers nodded at him with a blend of fear and admiration,
some of them looking at me the same way.
“They remember your father,” he said as we passed the
armoury. “And your brothers. You don’t need to prove anything here.”
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I didn’t answer.
I had everything to prove.
I was barely settled in the cabin Dravic had arranged for me—simple, sturdy, and clean, when I felt a shift in the air.
We glanced at each other.
It was magic. Familiar, stubborn, blindingly bright.
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We hurried out just in time to see them materialise at the edge of camp.
Abigail and Marcus stood at the front, black cloaks billowing, their matching blonde hair glowing under the moonlight. Marcus had his hand raised already, fingers sparking blue. Abigail’s stance was looser, but her sharp eyes were already
locked on Dravic.
Behind them came the rest. Hailey, Xayden, Quin, Tony, and Laura. Dressed in varying layers of enchanted leather, each one of them armed. Each one ready to fight.
“Step away from her,” Marcus growled, his magic crackling around his boots. “Now.”
Dravic didn’t move. His head tilted slightly, gaze hard. “Who the hell are they?”
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“My friends,” I said quickly, stepping forward.
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But Hailey had already flung a gust of air toward Dravic’s boots, forcing him to step back. Tony moved beside her, drawing one of his poisoned daggers, and Quin was already glowing at the fingertips. All seven of them stood like a storm, blocking my view of the camp’s entrance.
Dravic’s jaw tightened.
“Stop it!” I stepped between them. “He’s not the enemy!”
Marcus blinked. “You sent us a message saying you were infiltrating the palace. And now you’re in a military camp with the prince. Forgive us for trying to save you.”
“I’m not being held here, Marcus. I followed Dravic myself. He saved me. If I didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
There was a pause. The wind stopped spinning around Hailey’s feet. Marcus slowly lowered his hand.
Abigail raised an eyebrow, still unreadable. “We may have overreacted.”
“You think?” Dravic said, brushing dust off his tunic.
The tension broke slowly. Xayden gave a sheepish shrug. “Well, at least they’ll remember our entrance.”
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“Camp sure will,” Dravic muttered.
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He didn’t say anything else as I introduced them, but his eyes kept scanning each one, memorising. Calculating. I watched the way he lingered on Marcus and Abigail the longest, nodding once, whether out of respect or warning, I couldn’t tell.
“I’m sorry they acted out,” I said to him later, once we were alone. “They came here to help. We all did.”
Dravic leaned against the post outside my cabin, arms folded. “They’ve got power. Discipline’s another matter.”
“They’ll follow orders,” I said. “And I know what you’re thinking, but I trust them. They’re like family.”
He gave a short nod. “Good. Because we’ll need them.”
My brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
He looked over the camp, where smoke curled from the training pits and new recruits fumbled through basic drills. His voice dropped low. “You were right. The alliance between Rum and the West is real, and they’re moving. We need numbers. Fast.”
My heart raced. “You confirmed that over night?”
Dravic gave me half a smile. “You’re not the only one with sources, Lady Marcia.”
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I smiled. “I can help, Dravic. Let me help.”
“You already are.”
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“Not enough. You said they respect my father. Let me speak to them. Let me convince them this isn’t just another skirmish. Let ́ me build something here.”
Dravic sighed. “You really don’t need to do all this, Mar. I can handle it.”
“I know you can,” I said. “But you and I both know we’re outnumbered. You will need all the help you can get. And I’m the only one with connections on both sides—werewolves and witches. If we don’t recruit now, if we don’t prepare… the whole kingdom will burn like my pack did. Like my family did.”
He stared at me for a long moment. Then he looked away, exhaling. “Fine. But we do it my way. Controlled. Quiet. No public calls. Handpicked scouts. Loyalty before strength.”
“Agreed.”
He nodded once, then pushed off the post. “You’re one stubborn girl, you know that?”
I grinned at him sweetly.
He smiled back, before starting to walk away. “And Marcia?” he said over his shoulder.
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“Yeah?”
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“Tell your friends to never attack a prince again. We tend to hold grudges.”
I snorted. “I’ll add it to the orientation.”
By nightfall, the witches were settled into the west barracks. Dravic allowed them to bunk with the newer recruits—it was less suspicious that way. I wasn’t sure which was louder: Hailey and Xayden bickering over whose pillow was enchanted, or Quin and Laura arguing with Marcus about whether sleeping in the trees counted as training.
Still, there was a lightness in my chest I hadn’t felt in a long
time.
For the first time since everything, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be, doing exactly what I was born to do.
I wasn’t some wolfless weakling like everyone tried to make me
into.
I was Marcia Xendale. Daughter of Thane Xendale. Sister of Arthur and Ryke Xendale.
I was just as strong. Just as smart.
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And I would do everything in my power to protect my kingdom, just like they did.
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