Chapter Six: The Walls Between Us
596 Words
The air in the kingdom grew thick and heavy, as if the sky itself were waiting for a tragedy to strike. The rumors had moved from whispers to declarations. In the market, they spoke of the "Feral King" who had forgotten his heart, and the "Socialite Bride" who had sold her soul for a title.
at home, the atmosphere was like a tomb. I'm never left alone. If it isn't my mother watching me with red-rimmed eyes, it was two of Lord Varick's guards standing outside my bedroom door "for my protection."
One night, driven by a desperation that felt like fire in my veins, i tried to make a move. i tied my bedsheets together, intending to climb down into the muddy alleyway and run until your lungs burst—straight to the High Tower. I didn't care about the guards or the scandal; I just needed to look Caelum in the eye and talk to him.
But as i swung my leg over the windowsill, the door creaked open. my father stood there, looking older than he ever had.
"Don't," he said, his voice a hollow shell. "The King's men are everywhere, Joy. If you go to him, they won't just stop you—they'll see it as a provocation. King Alaric told me this morning that if you aren't at the altar by the new moon, he will seize the stables and have us exiled. Or worse."
i collapsed to the floor, the rough fabric of the sheets still in my hand. "He's being lied to, Father. We both are."
"It doesn't matter," my father whispered. "In this kingdom, the King's lie is the only truth we're allowed to live."
At the same time, Caelum was a whirlwind of destruction. He had already smashed every mirror in his chambers, unable to look at the golden glow of his eyes. He had tried to fight his way out three times. Each time, he was met by a phalanx of guards armed with silver-tipped spears—ordered by his own father to keep him contained.
"She is getting married, Caelum!" King Alaric roared through the heavy iron grate of the door. "Accept it! She has chosen a man who can give her a peaceful life, not a monster who can't even control his own skin. Lord Varick is a loyal ally. This marriage stabilizes the southern border. It is done."
Caelum threw himself against the door, the metal groaning under his supernatural strength. "She wouldn't!" he howled, a sound that started as a man's scream and ended as a wolf's cry. "Let me speak to her!"
"You will speak to no one until you are the Alpha I commanded you to be," his father replied coldly.
To ensure the wedding went forward, King Alaric took a final, cruel step. He summoned my parents to the throne room. He didn't offer seats. He didn't offer kindness.
"Your daughter is a distraction my son can no longer afford," Alaric stated, his eyes cold as flint. "The rumors of her 'pining' for the Prince are making him weak. You will move the wedding forward. Three days. If she is not Lord Varick's wife by then, I will ensure your family is remembered only as a footnote of traitors."
my parents returned home trembling, their fear so palpable it felt like a cold draft in the house. The pressure had reached its peak. The wedding wasn't just a ceremony anymore; it was an execution of my happiness.
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