The Monster and His Queen

Chapter 6

"Your father won't agree," Martha said. "He wants the ceremony to be grand, impressive. A quick wedding looks suspicious."

"Then we'll give him what he wants during the day and do the real binding in secret." Draven looked at Martha. "You said you studied with priestesses. Can you perform a shadow marriage?"

Martha's eyes widened. "That's old magic. Forbidden in most kingdoms."

"But possible?"

"Yes. But it requires both parties to willingly give themselves to the darkness. There's no going back from it." Martha looked between them. "Are you both sure about this? A shadow marriage is more permanent than any royal ceremony. It binds your souls, not just your lives."

Elaria's heart raced. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means you'll feel what he feels. Think what he thinks. When one of you hurts, the other hurts. When one dies..." Martha trailed off. "Well. The other usually follows soon after. Your lives become one life in two bodies."

The room fell silent. That was bigger than any wedding vow Elaria had ever heard. It was terrifying. It was permanent. It was—

"I'll do it," she said.

Draven turned to her sharply. "You don't have to. There are other ways to protect you."

"Name one that doesn't involve you killing half the court."

His mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "Fair point."

"Besides," Elaria continued, "if we're bonded this deeply, I'll know if you're in danger too. It works both ways, right?"

"Right," Martha confirmed. "Neither of you will be able to hide anything from the other. Not emotions, not thoughts, not secrets. Everything becomes shared."

"Then we do it," Draven said. "Tonight."

"The ceremony requires three things," Martha said, standing and moving to the window. "Moonlight, shadow water, and blood from both participants. I can get the shadow water from the old well in the east garden. But we need a place where moon and shadow meet equally."

"The tower balcony," Elaria suggested. "The one on the south side. It catches moonlight but is surrounded by shadows from the old oak trees."

"Perfect." Martha headed for the door. "I'll prepare everything. Meet me there in two hours. And Prince Draven? Try not to be seen. The guards have orders to watch for intruders."

After Martha left, Elaria and Draven sat in awkward silence. The weight of what they were about to do pressed down on them.

"Are you scared?" Elaria finally asked.

"Terrified," Draven admitted. "I've spent my whole life keeping everyone at a distance. Now I'm about to let someone all the way in. Into the darkest parts of me. Parts I've never shown anyone."

"I'm scared too. What if you see inside me and decide I'm not what you thought? What if I'm too ordinary, too boring?"

Draven moved closer, taking her hand carefully. The shadows wrapped around their joined fingers like silk ribbons. "I've seen a glimpse already through the bond. You're not ordinary. You're brave and stubborn and you see things everyone else misses. You looked at me and saw a person, not a monster. That's extraordinary."

"You say that now. But when you can hear all my thoughts—"

"Then I'll know you even better. And you'll know me. All the anger, all the darkness, all the times I've done terrible things." His grip tightened. "That's what scares me. That you'll finally understand what everyone else already knows. That I'm dangerous."

Elaria reached up and touched his face, making him look at her. "I already know you're dangerous. I'm choosing you anyway."

He kissed her then, sudden and intense. The shadows around them exploded outward, wrapping the room in comfortable darkness. Elaria felt the bond between them pulse with heat, with want, with something deeper than words.

When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Draven rested his forehead against hers.

"Two hours," he whispered. "Then there's no going back."

"Good. I'm tired of going back."

They sat together in the darkness, holding hands, neither speaking. Outside, the palace continued its nightly routine, unaware that everything was about to change.

Finally, it was time. Elaria changed into a simple white dress that would show shadows well. Draven waited by the window, watching the moon rise.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

They made their way through the silent palace, Draven keeping to the shadows, Elaria walking normally. Anyone who saw her would think she was just taking an evening walk. No one needed to know the shadow prince moved beside her, invisible to normal eyes.

The south tower balcony was exactly as Elaria remembered—half bathed in moonlight, half draped in shadow from the massive oak trees that grew alongside it. Martha was already there, arranging items on a small table.

"Good. You're both here." She gestured to two spots on the ground. "Stand there, facing each other."

They did as instructed. Martha drew a circle around them with something that glowed faint silver—the shadow water, Elaria realized.

"This ceremony is older than kingdoms," Martha began, her voice taking on a formal tone. "Older than laws or crowns or treaties. It binds two souls in darkness and light, making them one. Once begun, it cannot be stopped. Once completed, it cannot be undone. Do you both understand?"

"Yes," they said together.

"Then we begin." Martha held up a small knife. "Your blood must mix and be offered to the shadows. Elaria, your right hand."

Elaria held out her hand. Martha made a quick cut across her palm. It stung but didn't hurt terribly. Blood welled up, dark in the moonlight.

"Draven, your left hand."

He offered his hand without hesitation. Martha cut his palm, and his blood was darker than it should be, almost black.

"Join hands."

Their bleeding palms pressed together. The moment their blood touched, Elaria felt something slam into her mind. Images, feelings, memories that weren't hers flooded through her.

She saw through Draven's eyes as a child, watching his mother scream and die. Felt his confusion and terror. Saw his father's cold disgust. Experienced years of isolation, of fear, of learning to hate himself because everyone else did.

And he was seeing her memories too. She felt him experiencing her childhood—the suffocating rules, the constant watching, the slow realization that she was property, not a person.

"Accept the shadows," Martha commanded. "Let them in."

The darkness around them surged forward, wrapping around their joined hands, climbing up their arms. It was cold at first, then warm, then it felt like nothing at all. Like it belonged there.

"Speak the words," Martha said. "I give myself to shadow."

"I give myself to shadow," they said together.

The world exploded in darkness and light. Elaria felt herself falling, flying, dissolving. She couldn't tell where she ended and Draven began. His thoughts were her thoughts. His heart beat in time with hers. His shadows wrapped around her like a second skin.

Then, slowly, the world reformed. They stood in the circle again, hands still joined, but something fundamental had changed.

Elaria could feel Draven in her mind, not as an intruder but as a presence that belonged there. She knew without asking that he felt the same.

"It's done," Martha said softly. "You're bound. Forever."

Draven raised their joined hands. The cuts had healed, leaving matching scars. The shadow marks on their wrists now connected, forming a complete pattern when they touched.

"How do you feel?" Elaria asked.

"Different. Complete. Like I've been walking around half-empty my entire life and didn't know it." Draven looked at her with wonder. "I can feel what you're feeling. Relief, fear, joy, worry—all at once."

"I feel you too. Your strength, your fear, your... love?" She looked at him, surprised.

He ducked his head, embarrassed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that part yet."

"Too late. I can feel everything now." She smiled. "And for the record, I feel the same way."

Martha cleared her throat. "This is lovely, but we need to leave before someone discovers us."

They broke apart reluctantly. As they turned to go, a figure stepped out of the shadows. Not a shadow creature—a real person.

Selene, the noblewoman who had expected to marry Draven, stood at the tower entrance, her beautiful face twisted with rage.

"So it's true," she hissed. "You actually went through with it. You married her in secret."

"Selene," Draven said coldly. "This doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't concern me? I was supposed to be your bride! My family was promised an alliance with the North!" She pointed at Elaria. "But you chose this weak little princess instead."

"Careful," Draven warned, shadows rising around him.

But Selene just laughed, high and sharp. "Oh, I'm not afraid of you, shadow prince. And neither is Lord Marek. Neither are the others who want this alliance destroyed."

Elaria's stomach dropped. "You're part of the plot."

"Not just part of it, darling. I've been leading it." Selene smiled like a cat with a mouse. "And now that I know you've done a shadow binding, well... that just makes things more interesting."

"What do you mean?" Martha demanded.

Selene backed toward the door. "Kill one, kill both. That's how shadow marriages work, isn't it? Which means we only need one target now, not two." Her smile widened. "Sweet dreams, Princess. I hope you enjoyed your wedding night. It might be your last."

She disappeared down the tower stairs, her laughter echoing behind her.

Draven moved to follow, but Elaria grabbed his arm. Through their bond, she felt his rage, his need to hunt Selene down and end the threat.

"Wait," she said. "Think. If you kill her now, you prove everyone right about you being a monster."

"I don't care what they think."

"But I do. We do." She squeezed his arm. "We're smarter than this. Let her think she won. Let her get comfortable. Then we strike."

Through their bond, Draven felt her plan forming. Her strategy. Her cleverness. Slowly, his rage cooled into something sharper, more controlled.

"You're right," he admitted. "But we need to move fast. If Selene knows about the binding, others will soon."

"Then we have until morning," Elaria said. "We need to find proof of the plot and expose everyone involved before they can act."

Martha nodded. "I know where Marek keeps his private papers. If there's evidence, it will be there."

"Then let's go hunting," Draven said, shadows gathering around him like armor.

But as they descended the tower, none of them saw the small figure watching from another balcony. Saphira stood in the moonlight, tears streaming down her young face, having heard everything.

"Elaria," she whispered to the night. "What have you done?"