The Monster and His Queen

Chapter 12

Elaria started for the door, then paused. She turned back to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for telling me. For trusting me with the truth."

Lyra held her close. "Be careful, my daughter. Love makes us strong, but it also makes us vulnerable. Don't let anyone use your bond against you."

"I won't."

As Elaria hurried through the palace halls, Martha fell into step beside her. The old woman moved surprisingly fast for her age.

"Your mother told you," Martha said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Everything."

"Good. You needed to know." Martha glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "But there's more she doesn't know. Things I've learned over the years about shadow magic and void creatures."

"Like what?"

"Later. First, let's see what has your prince so agitated. I can feel his distress through the residual magic."

They climbed the spiral stairs of the east tower. At the top, Draven stood at the window, his shadows writhing around him in obvious distress. When he heard them enter, he turned quickly.

"Finally. I've been trying to reach you through the bond, but something was blocking it."

"My mother's chambers have old wards," Elaria explained. "What's wrong?"

"This." Draven held out his hand. In his palm sat a small crystal, black as night, that pulsed with inner light. "It appeared in my room an hour ago. Just materialized out of nothing."

Martha gasped, backing away. "Don't touch that!"

"Too late. I already picked it up." Draven's expression was grim. "The moment I did, I heard his voice. The Void King. He sent a message."

"What message?" Elaria asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"He's coming. Not now, not immediately. But soon. He says the wedding is the perfect opportunity—when two kingdoms gather, when attention is divided, when emotions run high." Draven set the crystal on the window ledge. "He's going to try to tear open the barrier between worlds and cross into this realm physically."

"That's impossible," Martha said. "The void barrier has held for thousands of years. It takes massive amounts of power to even c***k it."

"Or," Draven said quietly, "it takes a powerful hybrid bound to a human anchor. Two souls connected so deeply that they can bridge the gap between worlds."

The implications hit Elaria like a physical blow. "Us. He's going to use us."

"Yes. We're the key he's been waiting for. Two people bound by shadow magic, standing together during a ceremony charged with emotion and witnesses." Draven's hands clenched. "We're going to tear open a doorway without even meaning to."

"Then we cancel the wedding," Elaria said immediately. "We don't give him the opportunity."

"It's not that simple." Martha moved closer to examine the crystal without touching it. "The bond between you is already strong enough. He doesn't need the ceremony. He just wants the emotional energy it will generate to make his crossing easier. If you cancel, he'll simply choose another moment. Maybe one where you're less prepared."

"So what do we do?" Elaria asked.

"We set a trap," Draven said. His eyes gleamed amber-gold. "He wants to use our wedding to cross into this world? Fine. Let him try. But we'll be ready for him."

"Ready how?" Martha demanded. "He's an ancient entity of pure void magic. What could possibly stop him?"

"Me." Draven's shadows darkened, deepened. "He made me. His power flows through me. Which means I might be able to—"

He stopped, his expression changing to one of pain. The shadows around him suddenly surged wildly, wrapping around his body like chains. He collapsed to his knees, gasping.

"Draven!" Elaria ran to him, but the shadows lashed out, knocking her backward.

"Don't touch him!" Martha shouted. "He's fighting for control. The Void King is trying to take him over remotely."

Draven's eyes had turned completely black—no amber, no white, just darkness. When he spoke, his voice had an echo to it, like two people speaking at once.

"You think you can stop me?" The Void King's voice came from Draven's mouth. "You think you can use my own creation against me? Foolish child. I've had centuries to perfect my hold on him."

"Get out of him!" Elaria screamed.

"Or what? You'll destroy him to stop me? We both know you won't." The Void King laughed through Draven's lips. "You love him too much. And that love is exactly what I'm counting on."

Draven's body spasmed. He was fighting, trying to push the Void King out, but it wasn't working. The possession was too strong.

Elaria felt it through their bond—Draven's consciousness being pushed down, down into darkness while something else took control. She felt his terror, his rage, his desperate need to protect her even as he lost the ability to control his own body.

Without thinking, Elaria reached for the bond. Not to receive from it, but to send through it. She pushed everything she felt toward Draven—her love, her certainty, her absolute refusal to let him go. She pushed it with all the force she could muster.

The effect was immediate. The shadows around Draven hesitated, flickered. The Void King's presence in him wavered.

"What—" the Void King's voice faltered. "How are you doing this?"

"She's the anchor," Martha said with sudden understanding. "You made him the bridge, but she's the anchor that holds him to this world. And an anchor doesn't move!"

Elaria pushed harder through the bond, pouring more of herself into Draven. She felt the Void King trying to push back, trying to overwhelm her with his ancient power.

But she also felt something else—Draven's consciousness, strengthened by her support, fighting back. Together, through their bond, they pushed against the invasion.

The shadows exploded outward in a blast of force that shattered the tower windows. Martha threw up a protective barrier just in time to keep them from being thrown out.

When the darkness cleared, Draven lay on the floor, breathing hard, his eyes back to normal. The black crystal had shattered into dust.

"He's gone," Draven gasped. "For now."

Elaria knelt beside him, checking his face, his arms, making sure he was really himself. Through the bond, she felt him—tired, shaken, but whole.

"How did you do that?" he asked. "How did you fight him off?"

"I didn't. We did. Together." She helped him sit up. "The bond works both ways. He can't take you without going through me first."

Martha examined them both with new respect. "The Void King made a mistake. He created you as a weapon, Prince Draven. But when you bound yourself to Elaria, you gave yourself a defense he can't overcome. She's not shadow-born. She's human, rooted in this world, and through her, so are you."

"Which means he can't possess me as long as the bond holds," Draven finished. He looked at Elaria with wonder. "You saved me."

"We saved each other. That's how this works."

They sat together on the tower floor, holding each other while Martha cleaned up the crystal dust and muttered about ancient entities and their arrogance.

"This doesn't solve the problem," Draven said eventually. "He'll try again. He'll keep trying until he finds a way to use us for his crossing."

"Then we find a way to stop him first," Elaria said. "We have three days until the wedding. Three days to figure out how to face a void entity and win."

"Impossible odds."

"Good thing we're good at impossible."

Draven laughed weakly. Through the bond, Elaria felt his exhaustion but also his determination. They would find a way. They had to.

But as they helped each other stand and prepared to return to the palace, none of them noticed the tiny shadow that had watched everything from the darkest corner of the tower. It slithered down the wall, through a c***k, out into the world.

The Void King had learned what he needed to know.

The bond made them stronger together, yes.

But what would happen if they were forced apart?