The Confrontation.
546 Words
Adrien and Seraphina left the border hut before dawn, riding hard toward Ravenna in a desperate attempt to halt the final march to war. But fate—always cruel, always watching—moved before they could.
Ravenna scouts spotted them.
Within minutes, arrows hissed through the air.
“Seraphina!” Adrien shouted as a volley struck the ground near her horse.
She swerved, but suddenly horns blared through the valley.
Ravenna riders.
Dozens.
At their head rode King Cassian, Seraphina’s father, armored in black steel, eyes burning with betrayal.
“Seraphina Ravenna!” he thundered. “Dismount. NOW.”
Adrien drew his sword instantly.
Seraphina grabbed his arm—pleading, desperate.
“Adrien… don’t. You cannot win this.”
“I will die before I let them take you.”
Her throat tightened.
“You cannot die,” she whispered. “Not for me.”
She slid off her horse, raising her hands.
“Father… listen to me—”
But Cassian only saw shame.
“You dare return with your enemy’s son at your side? You dare dishonor your blood?”
Adrien stepped between them.
“She is my wife!”
The world froze.
Ravenna soldiers gasped.
Seraphina’s father went pale.
Then his expression turned murderous.
“Then you have condemned her,” he said coldly.
In a blur of steel, Ravenna soldiers seized Seraphina, pinning her arms, dragging her from Adrien’s reach.
“NO!” she cried. “Adrien!”
He fought like a man possessed, cutting through two soldiers before being tackled to the ground, blades at his throat.
“Take her home,” Cassian ordered. “Kill him.”
“NO!” Seraphina’s scream tore through the valley.
Adrien’s eyes locked on hers—so full of love, fear, and fierce determination.
“I will come for you,” he whispered hoarsely as the soldiers dragged him away. “Nothing will stop me.”
She reached for him until their fingers slipped apart.
Her world shattered as Ravenna carried her away…
And Adrien’s world collapsed as Valerian soldiers found him bleeding in the dirt.
Adrien woke in a war tent, surrounded by Valerian commanders wearing the same expression:
disappointment, suspicion, betrayal.
The king stood over him.
“You protected her. You chose her over your own kingdom.”
Adrien pushed himself upright despite the pain.
“I chose peace,” he growled. “I chose a future for our people.”
“You chose weakness,” King Alistair spat. “And now Valerius will burn for it.”
Adrien’s fists clenched.
“If you attack Ravenna, Seraphina will be the one who suffers—”
The king cut him off.
“I spared your life once. I will not do it again.”
Adrien glared up at him, voice cold as steel.
“Then kill me… because I will not abandon her.”
The tent fell silent.
Finally, the king spoke.
“You are confined to the war camp. If you try to escape… you will be executed.”
He turned away.
But Adrien was already planning.
War camp walls meant nothing.
Chains meant nothing.
Not when the woman he loved was in danger.
Not when she carried his heart and his name.
Adrien would burn the world itself to reach her.
- Writer
