Secrets Of Blood
562 Words
The old library sat at the farthest edge of the east wing, buried beneath layers of stone and dust. No one visited it anymore not since the new wing was built with its gleaming chandeliers and polished floors.
But the old one had something else. Silence. Shadow. And secrets.
Liora slipped inside just before midnight, heart pounding against her ribs like a warning drum. Her fingers traced the shelves as she walked between ancient tomes and faded scrolls. The air smelled of ink, parchment, and forgotten time.
Then she saw him.
Kael stood near a tall window, moonlight cutting across his face. He wasn’t dressed like a prince no crest, no gold, just a black shirt and loose trousers. Simple. Human.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said.
“I almost didn’t.”
He turned, watching her. “But you did.”
Liora stayed near the doorway, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Why did you ask me here?”
“Because I need to know the truth.”
She froze. “About what?”
He stepped closer, eyes searching hers. “About you. Who you are. Where you learned to heal like that. What you’re hiding.”
She shook her head. “I’m not hiding anything.”
“Liora,” he said softly. “You stitched a wound that should have killed me. You whispered a language I’ve only ever heard in old war journals northern spellwork. And I’ve seen you staring at portraits in the royal archives like you recognize them.”
Her breath caught.
He noticed.
“I think you’re more than a servant,” he said. “More than a healer. I think you’re someone the King would have killed if he knew the truth.”
She wanted to lie. Deny it all. But her voice came out like a confession:
“I don’t know what I am.”
Kael took her hand carefully, as if she might break. His fingers were warm. Steady.
“Tell me everything,” he said.
So she did.
About the night her mother fled with her as a baby. About the hidden cottage in the woods. About the symbol on the locket her mother made her wear one she’d recently seen carved into the pages of a banned history book.
“It’s the crest of Queen Sarielle,” Kael whispered, pale. “The rebel queen.”
Liora nodded. “My mother never spoke of her past. But I think she was part of the rebellion… and I think I’m the last piece of it.”
They stood in silence, the truth heavy between them.
“If the King finds out,” she whispered, “he’ll kill me.”
Kael moved without thinking one hand at her cheek, the other cradling her jaw. “Then I won’t let him.”
His lips brushed hers gentle, hesitant. The kiss was soft and full of everything they weren’t allowed to feel. It tasted like danger. Like longing. Like a promise.
When he pulled back, his eyes were wild with fear and something more.
“I don’t care what they say,” he said. “I want you.”
A soft crack split the silence.
Liora turned just in time to see the old library door shift slightly…
And a shadow slip away down the corridor.
They weren’t alone.
Someone had been watching.
- Writer
