Chapter 24 - The Blue Knight's Presentation

"There are shadows that protect and guardians that are born... in the arms of a silent queen."

The moonlight didn't shine here; it rested like a frozen sigh in space, bathing the moon lounge in a suspended, almost unreal peace the walls were of solid mist, the floor a warm frost velvet every breath seemed to make the air vibrate like a celestial harp string around the low table, finely sculpted from lunar crystal, three silhouettes were gathered: Chang'e, motionless as a silk statue, read an ancient poem whose words floated in the air like lanterns Hera, sitting upright, her head raised towards the horizon, silently observed the moon slowly growing beyond the translucent bays and between the two of them, Saphira, tiny and straight, her hands resting on her doll, her gaze lost in the constellations wrapped around the sky.

The sacred cake was finished the tea had been refilled, still steaming in silver cups but another warmth began to rise, an emotion that even the moon dared not name Saphira murmured, in a low voice, as if she dared not disturb the glass of the world.

—"She wants to greet you."

The silence deepened then a soft, bluish light escaped from the doll. It didn't gush it flowed, like water that forgot it was light the fabric body dissolved, relaxed, then straightened. Élya grew, lifted herself out of herself, slowly rose to her feet. Limbs lengthened, her skin became celestial, constellated with starlight, and her hair, both black and blue, cascaded like liquid she wore armor made not of metal, but of solidified sky fragments, linked together by aurora gleams on her heart, an emblem: that of the blue throne she knelt, hand on chest, and spoke.

—"Élya, knight of the blue throne, guardian of sleep and silences, servant of Saphira Noctielle."

Hera, whose voice had not vibrated for long minutes, broke the silence.

—"She doesn't speak like a doll."

Saphira, without looking away, replied:

—"Because she never was."

Chang'e stood, almost floating, and took a step towards Élya her hands did not touch her, but brushed her aura she closed her eyes.

—"I feel in her the silence of the night, but also the anger of a storm you never allowed to break you forged her... in your heart."

Saphira nodded slowly.

—"She was my arms, when I trembled too much to defend myself. She was my scream when I was too afraid to speak and when I wanted to fall, it was she who reminded me that I was the tower."

The young woman stood up her eyes were vast, bright, but without light they contained the echo of all silences.

—"I was not born like others i am the fear she tamed, the tenderness she dared to love, and the lightning she refused to let die."

Her voice, though soft, vibrated like a blade against the soul.

—"As long as Saphira breathes, i will be her sword, her shadow, her faithful memory i will watch over her dreams, even those she dares not dream."

Hera approached slowly she removed from her wrist an emerald braided bracelet, as old as epics.

—"Here is the right to speak to the wind. You can ask it to lift the ashes or to carry the voice of a queen."

She passed it onto Élya's wrist, with an almost ritual slowness Chang'e, meanwhile, bowed. she placed a silver feather on Élya's forehead, and left a mark of blue light, like a star fallen into a lake.

—"May lies be to you like shadows in water: visible, blurry, but never lasting."

Finally, Saphira, the smallest of all, approached she took Élya's hand no other words, just a look, and that look was worth all coronations.

—"I am not always a queen, but you will always be my knight."

End of Chapter 24 - The Blue Knight's Presentation