•Cursed•

“You sent for me,” I said the moment I walked into the throne room.

The air reeked of candlewax and old judgment.

The council sat like carved idols, faces stiff, eyes following me with the weight of dread. Even the elders barely breathed.

Theron did not sit. He paced, from one end of the hall to the other, his cloak dragging shadows behind him. There was fear behind his fury, though he hid it poorly.

“How dare you?” he spat, his voice striking the stone walls.

“How dare you defy me before the court and the elders?”

“I didn’t intend to,” I replied, calm but unyielding.

“You ordered an innocent girl’s death,a girl who happens to be my mate.”

His head snapped toward me, rage splitting through his mask.

“You cannot have a mate, Rhydian! You are cursed!”

The hall trembled beneath his roar. Theron always loved theatrics, thunder without lightning.

I stood still, very much unimpressed. Silence was its own form of answer.

“I can have a mate,” I said finally, my voice even.

“And I have one. Her name is Ayla, and one will touch her because I say so. And if they try, ”

I took one slow step forward. “they will not live to tell of it.”

The color drained from his face. The King’s hands curled into fists.

“You are my blade,” he said quietly, trying to steady himself.

“You do not rise above my laws.”

“I will rise above your laws, Theron, when they no longer serve me,” I said, and the calm in my tone made even the elders shift in their seats.

He descended from his throne, voice deep with anger.

“I am your King!”

“Only by title,” I said. The words fell cold and sharper that I planned.

“You lack the strength to rule.”

For a moment, fear flickered behind his rage, then came calculation, he knew what I could do, what I would do if he decided to be rash about his decisions.

He stared at me, his jaw twitching, unable to hold my gaze.

“Weak cunt,” I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

He turned away, facing the elders instead. His voice broke the silence.

“You have two choices,” he said.

“Break the bond and she lives. Refuse, and she dies at the gallows by morning, your choice.”

The hall grew still and none is the elders or council members dared move as they anticipated my reply. But silence has always worked for me, so I let it stretch until his nerves began to fray.

“Neither,” I said.

Murmurs broke through the stillness. The King spun toward me, face filled with outrage.

“Neither? Are you mad?”

“I have my suspicions about her,” I replied.

“I need time to confirm them. I will keep her hidden until the next full moon, no council member will see her. And if anyone tries to find her”

I met his gaze to make sure my words carry the right weight.

“I’ll kill them first, do we have a deal, Theron?”

It wasn’t a request, it was a quiet threat, disguised as reason.

For a long moment, he studied me, my eyes, my stillness, my silence, then he exhaled, the sound half a growl.

“All right,” he said.

“We have a deal.”

A smirk tugged at my mouth. He’d agreed only to buy himself time to plan her death, but he didn’t realize I had done the same.

Seven days. That’s all I needed to prove what I smelled in her blood, that she wasn’t entirely human.

It might seem like a prolonged death wish to her, but to me it was a countdown.

Theron walked back to his throne and sat.

“Remember this, Rhydian,” he said darkly.

“Any man who chooses her over the crown will answer to my court. I will not be undermined.”

“I don’t ask for your permission,” I said quietly. “I only inform you, because I know what will happen if you break your word.”

He faltered, just slightly, he gulped and I saw it. He was scared. Then I looked away.

The council began to murmur again, the sound like gnats in the air, I didn't bother to find out what they spoke about, I just turned to leave.

“Know this,” he called after me, his was voice lower now.

“Any man who protects a slave over the King… will die alone.”

I inclined my head to the side with a wicked smirk.

“Then I will die alone before I kneel for weakness.”

As I walked out, I felt his gaze pierce my back like a blade.

This war had just begun.

•Slave•

When I woke up again, the room was dim. The curtains were drawn, the air thick with candlelight and something faintly metallic, steel and smoke.

For a heartbeat, I forgot where I was. Then the ache in my wrists reminded me, I was in Rhydian’s chambers. And he wasn’t here.

The memory came back in fragments, the throne room, the King’s fury, the sound of Rhydian’s voice defying him, the shimmer of a blade. My heart stuttered.

He had defied the King for me.

Why?

The door opened without warning.

A man stepped in, he had broad shoulders and dark hair, he was similar Rhydian but not as cold. His eyes were sharp, the kind that measured worth before deciding whether to waste effort.

“You’re awake,” he said, not in a kind manner

“Good.”

I sat up, fingers clutching the blanket.

“Who are you?”

“Kael,” he said flatly.

“The Cursed One’s only friend.”

The way he said Cursed One made my stomach twist.

He scanned the room, his eyes flicking to corners and shadows.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t even be alive.”

“Then why am I?” I asked softly.

He looked at me then, really looked. Something flickered in his jaw, part anger, part disbelief.

“Because Rhydian said so. And when he says so, even the King hesitates.”

His voice carried no admiration, only warning.

“You hate me,” I whispered.

He didn’t deny it.

“I don’t trust you,” he said instead.

“You’re human, yet he claimed you as a mate. Every woman he’s ever bonded with died within days.

“And you” he took a step closer, eyes narrowing, “you’re still breathing.”

I forced myself not to recoil. “You think I’m the curse?”

He paused.

“I think you’re the spark that will burn him again.”

The fire crackled softly in the hearth, but its warmth didn’t reach me. The silence between us thickened, heavy as chains.

Kael turned toward the door.

“Stay in this room,” he said.

“If the King sends guards, pretend you’re asleep. If they break in… pray Rhydian returns first.”

The door shut behind him. The lock clicked.

That sound, very small but it settled in my chest like stone, it made me realize that I wasn’t being protected, I was being hidden.

And the walls around me were not safe, they were a cage, built from someone else’s fear.

And I realized that that wrong turn I took on my way to the grand staircase, have cost me my life and maybe my chance at freewill.