CHAPTER.9
544 Words
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Chapter 9: The Blood Oath
Selene sat by the edge of the chamber, her hands trembling, staring at the crown she dared not touch.
Valerian hadn’t spoken since he pulled her away from it. He paced like a predator caged too long. The veins in his hands pulsed dark, and the bond between them stretched thin and tight like string over flame.
"You were drawn to it," he finally said. "The way I was, once."
Selene turned to him. “What happened when you touched it?”
He stopped. His back to her. Silent.
"Valerian," she pressed.
"I died."
The words cut through the still air like a blade. Selene stood, breath caught in her chest.
"You… died?"
"I touched the Abyss Crown when I was still human. A foolish prince, trying to defy fate. It killed the man I was. What rose afterward… was what you see now."
He faced her then — eyes darker than night, older than time.
“I wasn’t cursed, Selene. I was chosen.”
Her lips parted, but no sound came. Every truth he told her only led to more questions. More cracks in the world she thought she understood.
“And the others? The ones who try to claim it?” she asked.
“They become monsters, Selene. Not kings.”
A silence passed between them, heavy with meaning. Then Selene whispered,
“So why did it call to me?”
Valerian stepped closer, his voice low and unsteady. “Because you were born for it.”
—
Outside, the air had shifted.
In the valley of bones that surrounded the ruins, the wolves began to howl — not the kind that walked on four legs, but those cursed into human form. Exiled bloodline wolves.
Lucien stood among them, his sword gleaming with poison.
“They’re too close to the crown,” he growled. “We strike at midnight.”
“But what of the girl?” one of the wolves asked.
Lucien’s gaze cut sharp. “She’s the key. The prophecy says only she can wake the Night King fully.”
“And if we kill her?”
Lucien smiled coldly. “Then he’ll die again — and stay dead this time.”
—
Back in the chamber, Valerian took Selene’s hands in his. His skin was colder than she remembered. His voice, almost a plea.
“I have to bind you.”
She blinked. “What?”
“A blood oath. To protect you. If they come for you… I won’t be able to hold back. This bond — it needs to be sealed. Or it’ll break both of us.”
Selene swallowed hard. “What happens when we bind?”
Valerian stepped close, so close his breath danced on her skin. “We stop being two.”
Without waiting, he bit into his palm, blood blooming deep red.
Selene’s hand trembled as she raised her own. “Will it hurt?”
He leaned in, forehead against hers. “Only if you lie.”
Then she bit. And when their blood met —
The chamber pulsed.
The throne glowed.
And the world shifted.
The blood oath had been made.
And someone, far away, felt it break a rule that should never have been broken.
- Writer
