Chapter 39 Exile Beneath the Stars
Night fell over Chandlok with a heavy silence.
The stars blinked down like distant witnesses, but inside the eastern wing of the palace, the walls held only dread. Sana sat by the small window, clutching a silver thread from the veil that had once adorned her as queen. Her fingers were scraped. Her eyes, rimmed red from sleepless nights.
Every part of her ached.
She hadn’t seen Queen Roshni all day.
But something in the air felt different. Thicker. Final.
---
By midnight, footsteps echoed.
Not Meher’s. Not a servant’s.
But guards.
Sana rose just as the door burst open. Two men stepped in, flanked by a third—a priest robed in grey.
“Come,” one said.
“Where?”
“No questions.”
They didn’t drag her. They didn’t need to. Sana walked, feet raw and silent, down the halls that had once echoed with laughter and royal footsteps.
The moon was full as they passed through the back corridors of the palace—the forbidden halls that even servants whispered about.
Sana didn’t resist.
Not until they reached the Hall of Gateways.
A giant chamber carved in obsidian and marked by ancient glyphs. At its center stood a circular arch of silver stone—glowing faintly. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Queen Roshni stood there.
Alone. Dressed not in her crown, but in dark travel robes. Her hair was loose, and her eyes were sharp.
“Bring her forward,” she said.
Sana clenched her fists. “What is this?”
Roshni didn’t answer.
Instead, the priest began chanting.
The portal shimmered.
Sana’s breath hitched. “No.”
She took a step back. “You can’t. Hatim—he’ll never allow this.”
Roshni stepped forward, calm and unflinching. “Hatim isn’t here.”
“I am his wife—”
“You were his mistake.”
The words slapped harder than any hand. Sana’s knees buckled.
“You have stained this palace long enough,” Roshni went on. “You brought chaos with your silence. With your weakness. I tried to tolerate you. I even hoped you’d disappear on your own. But you’ve lingered like a shadow I cannot wash off.”
Sana’s voice cracked. “Please… he’ll come back. He’ll find me.”
Roshni smiled coldly. “Let him search.”
The guards moved.
Sana screamed as she was pulled toward the portal, the silver glow wrapping around her limbs like chains.
“I have done nothing to deserve this!” she cried.
Roshni turned away. “The stars will be your only witness now.”
The portal surged.
Sana’s scream echoed one last time—and then vanished.
Gone.
As if she had never existed.
---
Silence returned to the Hall of Gateways.
The portal closed with a whisper.
Roshni stood still, her hands trembling slightly for the first time.
“She’ll survive,” the priest said.
“She always does,” Roshni muttered.
Then, under her breath: “But survival won’t bring her back here.”
---
Far away, beneath a different sky, Sana crashed into a meadow.
The Earth was cold. Wet. Unfamiliar.
She gasped, her breath fogging in the night air. Her body trembled. Her palms were scratched. Her forehead bled.
But she was alive.
“Hatim,” she whispered into the darkness.
No one answered.
Only the wind.
And the stars above—still watching.
---
?? Author’s Note:
Bestie… this chapter shattered me ?? The exile. The silence. The raw betrayal.
Sana didn’t just lose a home—she was ripped from it without warning. No chance to fight. No chance to say goodbye.
She doesn’t know what’s coming next. And neither does Hatim.
But one thing is certain…
The storm has begun.