8
1309 Words
R A I D E N
Gasps echoed through the throne room like a rippling wave. Their eyes widened in unison, a flash of raw terror crossing the faces of Mr. Hale’s wife and Liora as my words hung in the air like an executioner’s blade. The tension snapped through the hall, sharp and immediate. No one dared move. No one dared breathe.
Mr. Hale, still sprawled on the cold stone floor with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, lifted his head just enough to look at me. His gaze shook with disbelief, fear, and something stubborn underneath, something that had clearly not yet been beaten out of him.
His fingers twitched as if he wanted to push himself up to fight, but the guard’s grip on his arm tightened, forcing him still.
Before the guards could haul them away, the Seer stepped forward. Her robes brushed against the ground, the soft sound almost swallowed by the heavy silence.
She sank into a deep bow, the movement slow and respectful. Her voice came steady, deferential, but filled with a weight that tugged at the edges of the room.
“Permit me to speak, Alpha.”
My jaw tightened as I angled my head toward her. I leaned back in my throne, fingers drumming once against the carved armrest. The sound was soft but carried through the hall like a warning. My gaze locked onto her with sharp, unyielding intensity.
“Speak,” I said. “But if you try to go against my order, I won’t hesitate to put your head on display as well.”
The entire hall fell into absolute stillness. Even the torches on the wall seemed to quiet their crackling. Every eye shifted between us, waiting to see if she had just dug her own grave.
But the Seer did not flinch. Her posture remained low, respectful. Only the slightest tremor in her robes showed she understood how thin the line she walked truly was.
“I understand your anger, Alpha,” she said, her steady voice filling the room. “And your judgment is justified.”
Her honesty was surprising, but I didn’t soften. I didn’t blink.
“However… we cannot disregard the prophecy.”
A spark of irritation pulsed through me. That damned prophecy. Always resurfacing at the worst moments. Always getting in the way of my decisions. It felt like a chain around the throat of my rule.
She continued, her words careful and deliberate, each one chosen as though she feared they might trigger the blade she knew I could swing at any second. “If the girl truly is the Golden Child… then her fate is tied to yours. To the throne. To the future of your reign.”
The Seer dared to raise her gaze only an inch, enough to show she was still aware of her place. “Before you decide who dies and who rots, we must understand the truth of their bloodline.”
The hall shifted again, the weight of her words settling like sandbags across every chest. She bowed her head once more.
“For the good of the kingdom… grant me time to uncover the truth. If she is the one foretold, her life belongs to the throne… and to you, Alpha.”
Silence fell again. Heavy. Suffocating. Expectant.
Every breath in the room seemed to hang on what I would say next.
Her plea lingered in the air, but I had grown tired of riddles, half-truths, and trembling fools acting like they knew how best to rule my kingdom. I let the quiet stretch, let it coil around their throats.
Liora remained frozen, trembling under the guards’ hold. Her wide eyes darted between the Seer and me. Her thin shoulders shook with every breath, and the faint scent of fear.
Mr. Hale’s wife clutched at her husband’s arm as if she could shield him from what was coming. Her face had gone pale, her lips trembling. Hale himself glared up at me with that same stubborn fire. Even bruised, bleeding, and pinned to the ground, he still dared to look at me as though I was the one making a mistake.
Finally, I broke the silence.
“When you say uncover the truth,” I said slowly, “what is required to unlock this truth?”
My voice carried through the hall, cold and sharp, making even the guards straighten their backs. The Seer lifted her head just enough to fully meet my gaze.
“A test, Alpha.”
A test? The word irritated me immediately.
“A test?” I repeated, the disbelief clear. The sound came out like a scoff. Why do we need a bloody test when the supposed Golden Child is right here in front of us? Liora was trembling like a leaf. Her scent, her energy, even the strange pull in the air around her, all of it screamed prophecy. It was obvious.
Instead of answers, I was being asked to waste time.
“Yes, Alpha,” the Seer continued, holding steady. “A test, to prepare her.”
“Prepare her?” I muttered. Another delay. Another obstacle thrown in front of my rule by old tales and superstitions.
The Seer nodded. “We need to be certain she is the one and not the other daughter. And if she proves true, we must prepare her for what lies ahead. The burdens of the prophecy. The trials of her destiny.”
Her tone was calm, but her words stirred something dark and primal inside me. A flicker of a vision rose in my mind, Liora in my chambers, her defiance stripped away, her body molded to serve the throne, to serve me, as prophecy demanded. I pushed the thought aside. Now was not the time for that.
“And how long will this test take?” I asked.
She hesitated for the first time. Her gaze flicked briefly to Mr. Hale’s wife, then to Liora, then back to me.
“A month, Alpha. We need time to observe the signs. To perform the rites without haste.”
A month.
I stared at her for a long moment, letting her feel the full weight of my authority pressing down. Then I stood. Slowly. Deliberately. The throne groaned as I rose to my full height, towering over everyone in the room.
My voice cut through the thick air.
“Fourteen days,” I said. “That’s all I’m giving you.”
The Seer’s breath caught, but she didn’t speak.
“If you cannot prove who is who in that time…” I stepped forward, boots whispering against the stone. “I will have your head on a spike with them.”
Gasps tore through the room again. Sharper this time. The Seer’s face paled, though she forced herself to bow deeper, accepting my decree. She knew better than to argue.
Mr. Hale’s wife let out a strangled sob. Liora choked on a shaky breath. Hale stared at me, horror creeping into his features, replacing the anger.
I turned from the Seer and faced the guards.
“Take her,” I commanded, pointing at Liora, “to my chambers.”
The guards moved instantly, gripping her arms. She whimpered but didn’t fight.
“And take those two old fools,” I said with no expression at all, flicking my gaze at Hale and his wife, “to the dungeon.”
Hale’s wife screamed. Liora trembled violently. Hale tried to resist, tried to push up, but the guards slammed him back down with almost no effort at all.
The hall buzzed with whispers now, fear, confusion, hope, dread, all tangled into one.
I didn’t care.
Fourteen days.
If she was the Golden Child, I would know.
If she wasn’t…
Every single one of them would regret wasting my time.
- Writer
