THE MAN WITH GOLDEN EYES
1595 Words
The knocking came again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The sound rolled through the palace like distant thunder.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The corridor seemed frozen in time.
The guards stared toward the staircase leading underground.
Several of them had gone pale.
One actually made the sign of protection across his chest.
As if prayer could help.
I looked at Lucien.
For the first time since meeting him, he didn't look calm.
He looked angry.
Not ordinary anger.
Fear disguised as anger.
The difference mattered.
Because Lucien Draven was not a man who feared easily.
The knocking came again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
This time the stone floor vibrated beneath my feet.
The crest on my wrist burned.
Hard.
I sucked in a breath.
Pain shot through my arm.
Dark lines briefly spread from the symbol before disappearing again.
The nearest guard saw it.
His eyes widened.
"My prince..."
Lucien's gaze instantly dropped to my wrist.
His expression darkened.
"Everyone leave."
Nobody moved.
"My prince."
"Now."
His voice cracked through the corridor like a whip.
The guards immediately obeyed.
Within seconds only three people remained.
Lucien.
Me.
And the messenger.
The poor man looked ready to collapse.
The knocking stopped.
The silence afterward felt worse.
Much worse.
Because now it felt like something was listening.
Waiting.
I folded my arms.
"What exactly is down there?"
Lucien didn't answer.
I wasn't surprised.
At this point his silence was practically a language.
"What are the tombs?"
Silence.
"Who was buried there?"
More silence.
My patience snapped.
"Stop treating me like a child."
The messenger immediately looked away.
Smart man.
Lucien stared at me.
His silver eyes were unreadable.
"You don't understand what you're asking."
"Then explain it."
The storm outside exploded.
Thunder rattled every window in the palace.
For a second shadows moved strangely across the walls.
Almost like living things.
Then they were normal again.
I swallowed.
Lucien noticed.
"Go to your room."
I laughed.
A sharp bitter sound.
"You really need new material."
His jaw tightened.
"Aria."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"I signed your contract."
I raised my wrist.
"This thing appeared because of your contract."
The crest glowed faintly.
The messenger visibly flinched.
I pointed toward the floor.
"And now something beneath your palace is knocking like it knows I'm here."
Lucien's expression changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
And suddenly a terrible thought entered my head.
"What if it does know I'm here?"
Silence.
That silence told me everything.
My stomach dropped.
"You know something."
"Aria."
"You know something."
Before he could answer, hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor.
A guard appeared around the corner.
His face was pale.
Terrified.
And the moment I saw him, I knew the news wouldn't be good.
The guard stopped in front of us.
His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath.
Sweat covered his face.
And his hands were shaking.
"My prince..."
Lucien immediately stepped forward.
"What happened?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"The sealed tunnels have opened."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The corridor suddenly felt colder.
Lucien's expression darkened.
"What else?"
The guard looked like he regretted being the one sent to deliver the message.
Then he whispered,
"Something came out."
My stomach dropped.
The palace seemed to hold its breath.
Lucien's hand moved to the sword at his side.
"What was it?"
The guard slowly raised his head.
Terror filled his eyes.
"It spoke."
A chill ran down my spine.
Lucien's voice became dangerously quiet.
"What did it say?"
The guard looked directly at me.
Not at Lucien.
Not at the messenger.
Me.
Then he whispered four words.
"It asked for Aria."
The corridor went completely silent.
My heart stopped.
"What?"
The guard looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
"It kept repeating the name."
My pulse thundered in my ears.
"No."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
The guard nodded weakly.
"It knew your name."
The crest burned again.
A violent pain exploded through my wrist.
I cried out.
The world tilted.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Suddenly I wasn't standing in the palace anymore.
I stood inside a massive underground chamber.
Ancient pillars stretched into endless darkness.
Broken chains covered the floor.
Some were thicker than tree trunks.
Others looked newly shattered.
The air smelled of ash and blood.
And at the center of the chamber stood a gigantic black door.
I recognized it immediately.
The same door from my visions.
The same door hidden beneath the palace.
The knocking came from the other side.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Then the door slowly cracked open.
Only an inch.
Only enough for darkness to spill through.
A voice echoed from beyond.
"Aria."
I froze.
The voice wasn't loud.
Yet it seemed to fill the entire chamber.
"Aria."
The door opened slightly wider.
Fear rooted me in place.
I wanted to run.
Couldn't.
Wanted to scream.
Couldn't.
Then I noticed something written across the stone.
Words.
Ancient words.
Words I somehow understood.
The Last Heir Returns.
My breath caught.
Heir?
Heir to what?
The chamber shook violently.
The door began opening further.
Then golden eyes appeared within the darkness.
Watching me.
Waiting.
Smiling.
I stumbled backward.
The vision shattered.
Reality slammed back into place.
I found myself kneeling on the palace floor.
Lucien crouched beside me.
His hand gripped my shoulder.
"Aria."
I looked up.
For the first time, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not for himself.
For me.
"What did you see?"
I opened my mouth.
No sound came out.
Because I couldn't stop thinking about those words.
The Last Heir Returns.
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
The messenger backed away.
Then another tremor shook the palace.
Stronger than before.
A distant scream echoed from somewhere below.
Then another.
And another.
Lucien immediately stood.
"Seal every entrance to the lower levels."
The guards hesitated.
"My prince, some of the men are still down there."
His expression hardened.
"That wasn't a request."
The guards rushed away.
Within seconds only Lucien and I remained.
The corridor felt strangely empty.
The storm outside raged harder.
Lightning flashed through the windows.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then Lucien sighed.
A tired sound.
A defeated sound.
"You should never have come here."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
His jaw tightened.
"Nothing."
I laughed bitterly.
"There you go again."
"Aria."
"No."
I stood.
My legs were shaking.
But I stood anyway.
"I'm done with the secrets."
The crest glowed faintly.
"I saw a door."
Lucien froze.
"I saw broken chains."
His face paled.
"And I saw something behind them."
Silence.
Terrible silence.
Then he whispered,
"It shouldn't be possible."
The words sent a chill through me.
Before I could ask what he meant, a deafening roar echoed beneath the palace.
Not human.
Not vampire.
Something older.
Something worse.
The entire palace shook.
Cracks raced across the walls.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The guards hurried away, but the fear they left behind remained.
I could feel it in the air.
The palace no longer felt safe.
If it ever had.
The storm outside grew worse.
Rain slammed against the windows.
Thunder rattled the ancient walls.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then I noticed something strange.
The crest wasn't hurting anymore.
It was pulsing.
Slowly.
Like a heartbeat.
I stared at it.
The symbol seemed darker than before.
The black lines looked sharper.
Almost alive.
A horrible thought crossed my mind.
What if the crest wasn't appearing because of the thing beneath the palace?
What if the thing beneath the palace was reacting to the crest?
My stomach twisted.
The possibility was somehow worse.
I glanced at Lucien.
He was watching my wrist.
Again.
Always watching it.
As if he expected something terrible to happen.
"What is this?" I asked quietly.
His gaze lifted to mine.
The question hung between us.
For a second, I thought he might finally answer.
Might finally tell me the truth.
Instead, he looked away.
My frustration returned immediately.
"You know exactly what it is."
Silence.
"You know why it appeared."
More silence.
The anger in my chest grew.
"You knew before I arrived at this palace, didn't you?"
That got a reaction.
A small one.
But I saw it.
Lucien's jaw tightened.
His silence became answer enough.
The realization hit harder than I expected.
He had known.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
Enough to recognize the crest.
Enough to fear it.
Enough to hide the truth from me.
The betrayal stung more than I wanted to admit.
Another tremor shook the palace.
This one stronger than before.
A c***k spread across the ceiling overhead.
Both of us looked up.
The stone groaned.
Then settled.
The silence that followed felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too still.
As if the entire palace was waiting for something.
Or someone.
And deep beneath us, far below the royal crypts, something knocked once more.
Not loudly.
Not violently.
Almost patiently.
As though it knew time was running out.
Then every candle in the corridor went out at once.
Darkness swallowed us.
For one terrifying second, there was nothing.
Then a single voice whispered through the darkness.
A voice only I seemed to hear.
"Find me."
My blood turned cold.
The voice laughed softly.
"You've been gone a very long time."
The candles burst back to life.
The corridor returned.
Lucien was staring at me.
"What happened?"
I couldn't answer.
Because at the end of the corridor.
Standing where nobody had been seconds ago.
Was a tall figure dressed entirely in black.
Watching me.
Smiling.
And glowing gold eyes stared directly into mine.
- Writer
