RAVETHORNE🐺

Chapter Six (Part One)

Chains Forged by Fate

Elissa Duskmere

I paced relentlessly across my chamber, biting at my fingernails until they ached.

For the first time in my life, everything had slipped beyond my control.

Two days.

For two entire days I had locked myself inside my chambers, refusing to see anyone. Mother had come. Father had come. Even Zephar had spent hours pleading outside my door, yet I could not bring myself to answer.

How had one desperate lie turned into this?

Prince Rhydian had ruined everything.

If I did not think of a solution soon, this disaster would grow far beyond anything I could contain.

A firm knock echoed through the room.

"Elissa," Zephar called from the other side. "Open the door."

I remained silent.

His voice came again, quieter this time.

"The Grand General is here."

My heart nearly stopped.

Hadrian Ravenor.

Head of House Ravenor.

Father of Theoren Ravenor.

My trembling fingers reached for the bolt before I slowly pulled the door open.

Zephar.

His gaze settled on me.

Disheveled hair.

Red, swollen eyes.

A wrinkled dress.

I looked pitiful.

The composure I had struggled to maintain shattered.

Without thinking, I stepped forward and buried my face against his shoulder.

"Please..." I whispered as tears escaped once more. "Please tell me there's a way out of this."

To my surprise, he did not push me away.

Instead, his voice remained calm.

"Tell me everything."

He gently held out his hand.

"And explain how you came to possess House Ravenor's Power Token."

"I was twelve," I began quietly.

"It was the year Father was promoted from an ordinary soldier to Commander of the Ravenor Knights. We had only just moved into the Duskmere Manor, and I spent every day wandering through its halls."

A faint smile crossed my lips despite everything.

"I bumped into a boy."

Strong.

Tall for his age.

Cold.

Even after I crashed into him, he never lost his balance.

"'Watch where you're going,' he said before walking away."

I laughed bitterly.

"I was so offended."

Zephar chuckled.

"Sounds exactly like Theoren."

"I noticed something shining on the ground after he left."

I reached into my pocket and withdrew the black obsidian token engraved with the raven crest.

"I tried calling after him, but he never looked back."

"I thought it was nothing more than a beautiful keepsake."

I looked down at it.

"I didn't know what it represented."

"I didn't know who he truly was."

It was also the first... and last time I ever saw Theoren Ravenor

Silence settled over the room.

"As I grew older, I learned what this token meant."

"The authority it carried."

"The power of House Ravenor."

"But by then..." I sighed softly.

"I no longer knew how to return it."

Perhaps...

I simply didn't want to.

"Theoren rarely visited the manor, and whenever he did, fate never allowed our paths to cross."

Taking a deep breath, I recounted everything.

The Bloom Hunt.

Prince Rhydian.

His attempt to force himself upon me.

The lie I had spoken to save myself.

The token.

Everything.

When I finished, the room fell deathly silent.

Zephar rubbed his forehead.

"You could have given the token to me years ago," he groaned. "I would have returned it quietly."

"I thought it was safest with me," I muttered.

"Kudos to you."

He folded his arms.

"The Grand General is here asking for your hand in marriage."

I blinked.

"...Marriage?"

My eyes darted toward Hadrian.

"I refuse."

"I am not marrying an old man."

Zephar stared at me.

"...Seriously?"

"That's what worries you?"

He sighed dramatically.

"Calm yourself."

"The Grand General isn't here for himself."

"He's here on behalf of Theoren."

I froze.

"...What?"

"You are to become Theoren Ravenor's bride."

I collapsed backward onto my bed.

"Oh, heavens..."

"What kind of mess have I created?"

Zephar's expression hardened.

"I still intend to settle the score with Prince Rhydian."

His fists clenched tightly.

"Prince or not, he had no right to touch you."

I smiled sadly.

"You know how the Royal Family is."

"If this reaches the ears of the entire kingdom..."

"My honour will become court gossip."

His anger melted into helplessness.

He knew I was right.

Among noblewomen, reputation was everything.

"What are we supposed to do about House Ravenor?" he asked quietly.

"I'll think of—"

A knock interrupted us.

"My Lady," Leela called.

"Lord Duskmere requests your presence."

"I'll be there shortly."

As Leela left, Zephar stopped me before I reached the wardrobe.

"Be careful."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"And don't let anyone force you into something you don't want."

I smiled faintly.

"I'll do my best, Brother."

After washing my face and applying just enough powder to hide the signs of endless tears, I made my way to Father's audience chamber.

The moment I entered, every conversation ceased.And there sitted the Grand General. Even Father, a commander of the Ravenor Knights, straightened instinctively in his presence.

Hadrian Ravenor looked every bit the warrior legends described. His silver-streaked hair framed a stern, weathered face, while his piercing grey eyes seemed capable of seeing through every lie ever spoken.

His gaze settled on me.

I lowered myself into a respectful bow.

"Greetings, Grand General."

"Greetings, Lady Isolde of House Ravenor."

"Father."

"Mother."

Lady Isolde Ravenor acknowledged me with the slightest inclination of her head.

Though only a concubine after the passing of the late Lady Ravenor, she still carried herself with undeniable elegance.

Her sharp eyes settled upon me.

"So..."

"You truly possess the Ravenor Power Token?"

I silently presented it.

Hadrian accepted it, studying every carved detail before returning it to my hand.

"It is genuine."

His brows knitted together.

"What puzzles me is why Theoren never mentioned losing it."

My pulse quickened.

Should I deny everything?

Should I confess?

"It is a misunder—"

"The King and Crown Prince visited Ravenor Manor this morning."

Hadrian's calm voice cut through mine.

The room fell silent.

"They came personally to seek forgiveness..."

"...for attempting to dishonour our future daughter-in-law."

My breath caught.

That wretched prince...

This was his doing.

He had ensured no one would ever believe I had lied.

Father cleared his throat.

"Perhaps it is still too early to call her your daughter-in-law."

"We parents have only just learned of this ourselves."

"And now," Hadrian replied calmly, "so has the kingdom."

He withdrew a royal decree sealed with the King's crest and handed it to Father.

"His Majesty has officially recognized Lady Elissa Duskmere as Lady Consort of Ravenor."

My heart stopped.

"The title was proposed by Crown Prince Rhydian himself."

"The decree further states that Lady Elissa shall reside at Ravenor Manor under the protection of House Ravenor until Theoren returns from his campaign in Ravaryn."

"Upon his return..."

"The wedding shall be arranged."

The room spun around me.

Mother gasped softly.

Father stared silently at the decree.

Even Zephar seemed unable to find words.

One desperate lie...

One stolen token...

One prince's obsession...

And my future had been rewritten.

Later, I returned to my chambers while Father remained behind to discuss the arrangements.

"This was Rhydian's plan all along," I groaned.

"He truly spared no effort to tie me to House Ravenor."

Zephar leaned against the window.

"And the Grand General has been searching for years for a way to make Theoren settle down."

He gave me a sympathetic smile.

"There was never any chance he'd let this opportunity escape."

I swallowed.

"What... will Theoren do when he returns?"

That frightened me more than anything.

Zephar was quiet for several moments.

"He won't hurt you because of me."

"But..."

"No one—not even the Grand General—can force Theoren Ravenor to do something he does not wish to do."

A chill ran through me.

"Where is he now?"

"Leading a campaign in Ravaryn."

As though fate wished to torment me further, another knock came.

"My Lady Consort."

I blinked.

The unfamiliar title sounded strange.

"By order of the Grand General, we have come to assist you with your belongings."

"You will depart for Ravenor Manor today."

"So soon?"

I muttered under my breath.

"Lady Consort?" Zephar repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed.

"Courtesy of Prince Rhydian."

He let out a low whistle.

"This has become far more serious than either of us imagined."

I packed in silence.

Every dress folded into the trunks felt like another farewell to the life I once knew.

When the carriage finally rolled away from Duskmere Manor, I looked back until my family disappeared from sight.

I was no longer simply Elissa Duskmere.

I was Lady Consort of Ravenor.

The future bride of a man who neither knew me... nor had ever chosen me.

Soon, I would be living beneath the same roof as Lady Isolde and her daughter, Lilly, who undoubtedly despised me for humiliating her.

And somewhere beyond the borders of the kingdom, Theoren Ravenor remained blissfully unaware that he was returning home...

...to a fiancée fate had chosen in his absence......

Omah Chronicles....