Chapter 2
1366 Words
The war room was suffocating with the scent of old parchment and burning candle wax. Maps were spread across the table, weighted down by iron daggers marking key battle points. Eric barely heard the chatter of his advisors—his mind was drowning in numbers, supply routes, and fortifications. He had spent the better part of the night reviewing their border defenses, ensuring no weakness could be exploited.
Then the doors burst open.
A scout, breathless and wild-eyed, nearly stumbled inside. “Your Majesty!”
Eric straightened, already on edge. “What is it?”
The scout hesitated, clearly shaken. “She’s returned.”
For a moment, Eric thought he’d misheard. “Who?”
The scout swallowed thickly. “Queen Evelynn.”
A cold pressure wrapped around his ribs, squeezing tight. The air in the war room seemed to thin.
Impossible.
The room was deathly silent as Eric slowly placed both hands on the table, steadying himself. “Explain.”
“She arrived through something not of this world in the middle of the court yard not long ago. Her hair—” The man’s voice faltered. “It’s white now, like frost. And she was not alone.”
Eric clenched his jaw. “Who?”
“A man… taller than her, dressed in black. Golden eyes. The moment she arrived, the air shifted. Jasmine and Mary tried to stop her, but she froze them in place—like it was nothing.”
A chill ran down Eric’s spine. That wasn’t the Evelynn he knew. That wasn’t the woman he had fought beside, loved, and lost.
“And then—she laughed.” The scout’s voice dropped, as if speaking the words out loud made them worse. “She laughed at the memory of your first meeting, Your Majesty, something is very wrong with her, your children are with her you must hurry.”
Eric’s vision blurred with fury. He shoved the map aside and stormed toward the door, the war room erupting in movement behind him.
Eric’s hands curled into fists.
He barely heard the rest, the man who stood beside her, the unnatural aura that clung to them both like a storm waiting to break.
This wasn’t the woman he had loved.
He stormed from the room, his heart pounding.
And for the first time in years, he felt something dangerously close to fear.
Elara stood her ground in the courtyard, her fingers twitching at her sides, itching to summon flame.
Her mother stood a mere ten paces away.
It should have been a moment of joy, of reunion. But this… this was wrong.
Evelynn’s white hair cascaded over her shoulders like spun moonlight, a cruel contrast to the darkness that pooled at her feet, shifting as if alive. Beside her stood a man dressed in black, his golden eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
Elara refused to be intimidated.His golden eyes glowed, and the longer she looked at them, the more she felt something pulling at her—like an abyss whispering her name. She gritted her teeth and tore her gaze away.
She wasn’t some frightened child. She had trained for this.
“Why are you here?” she demanded, her voice steady despite the storm inside her. “What do you want?”
Evelynn tilted her head, a smile touching her lips—but it wasn’t warm. It was assessing. “You’ve grown,” she mused, as if she were speaking of a flower, not a daughter.
Elara clenched her jaw. “Don’t avoid the question.” Her gaze roamed over Elara, assessing her. “You’ve grown strong. That’s good. Strength is necessary for what is to come.”
Elara’s heart pounded. “What is to come?”
Evelynn took a step forward, but the golden-eyed man caught her wrist, halting her. His voice was soft, almost affectionate. “Give her time. Let her simmer in her own fire. She’ll come to us when she’s ready.”
Elara stiffened. The way he said it, the confidence, made her stomach twist.
A chuckle. Not from Evelynn, but from the man beside her. His voice was smooth, amused. “She has your fire,” he murmured to Evelynn. “How delightful.”
Evelynn didn’t look at him. Her focus remained on Elara. “You are my heir,” she said simply. “My blood. You belong with me.”
Elara’s chest tightened, but she didn’t waver. “I belong here.”
Something dark slithered through Evelynn’s eyes.
Eugene stepped closer to Elara, his presence a silent shield. “She isn’t going anywhere,” he said firmly.
The golden-eyed man merely smiled.
But Elara saw the way the shadows curled toward her feet, inching forward like fingers reaching for something they already claimed as theirs.
Eugene had read about darkness like this in books. He had studied curses, bindings, and magic older than time itself.
But nothing had prepared him for the weight of it in reality.
The darkness that coiled at Evelynn’s feet was unnatural. It wasn’t just magic—it was sentient.
And it was hungry.
He forced himself to focus, to steady his voice. “If you truly loved us, you wouldn’t have left us.” His gaze flickered to the man beside her. “You wouldn’t have made a deal with this devil.”
Evelynn’s expression didn’t change. But for the briefest second, her smile faltered.
Then the golden-eyed man spoke, voice silken. “Love is irrelevant. Destiny is absolute.”
Eugene felt a chill creep into his bones.
Evelynn didn’t deny it.
She wasn’t here for love. She was here for conquest.
“Elara,” he murmured, stepping closer to her. “Step back.”
Eugene reached for her arm, trying to pull her back, but she didn’t move.
She wouldn’t retreat. Not now.
The tension in the courtyard shattered as Eric stormed in.
His sword was drawn. His face was carved from stone.
But his eyes—his eyes—burned with a mixture of fury and something deeper.
Pain.
He barely spared a glance at the man in black. His focus was solely on Evelynn.
“You’ve come back to us,” he said, his voice hoarse.
Evelynn turned to him.
For the briefest moment, something flickered in her gaze—something familiar.
But then, just as quickly, it was gone.
“Is that how you welcome your queen?” she asked, a smirk playing at her lips.
Eric’s grip on his sword tightened. “You left us.”
Evelynn sighed, as if disappointed. “You are a fool to think I had choice.”
She took a slow step forward.
Eric immediately raised his sword between them. “Don’t.”
The golden-eyed man chuckled. “So much hostility.” His voice was smooth, velvety. Dangerous. “Yet you forget, King—she is already mine.”
And then the shadows moved.
They curled around Evelynn, wrapping around her limbs like lovers’ hands, caressing her in front of them all—a dark, intimate display of the power that bound her.
The sight of her, ensnared by this darkness, made him sick.Eric clenched his jaw, his grip unsteady.Had she been forced into this? Had she suffered? Or had she chosen this darkness?
He wasn’t sure which answer was worse.
Eric’s chest constricted.He saw it—just for a second. The real Evelynn, buried beneath whatever darkness had taken hold of her.
He moved toward her.
“Evelynn,” he murmured. “This isn’t you. Come back to me , my little witch.”
For a moment, she hesitated, the sound of his nickname for her reaching something she’d buried deep to survive.
Then the golden-eyed man placed a hand on her shoulder.
And whatever softness had been there—whatever sliver of the woman he had once loved—was gone.
She turned, her expression cold.
“You were a chapter I have long since closed,” she said.
And then the shadows consumed her.
When they faded, she and the golden-eyed man were gone.
But her words remained.
A promise.
A warning.
A threat.
She was coming back.
And when she did, she would not be alone.
- Writer
