The cursed throne

Chapter Three: Whispers In The Dark

The night dragged on, but sleep never came. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it—the heavy weight of the shadows that seemed to seep into the very walls of this cursed place. The castle was alive in a way that was almost unnatural, as if it held memories of all the darkness that had taken place within its walls.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching me. It wasn’t Kael, though his presence lingered like a shadow in the back of my mind. No, this was something else. The figure I had seen earlier—it hadn’t been a trick of the light, or a figment of my imagination.

I was sure of it.

I sat up in bed, my breath shallow, my body stiff with unease. The silence of the room was deafening. No servants came to check on me, no sounds from the castle’s corridors reached my ears. Just the hollow echo of my own heartbeat, pounding in my chest like a warning.

Then I heard it.

A whisper.

It was faint, barely audible at first, but it grew clearer as the seconds ticked by. Soft and seductive, like the wind weaving through the cracks in the walls.

“Evanna…”

My name. But not in Kael’s voice. This was different—darker, colder. The whisper was laced with something ancient, something not entirely human.

I held my breath, straining to listen.

“Evanna…” The voice came again, this time closer, almost as if it were right beside me.

I sprang from the bed, my heart hammering in my chest as I backed toward the door, my hand on the hilt of the dagger Kael had insisted I carry for protection. My fingers tightened around the hilt, the cold steel offering me a fragile sense of security.

But no matter how hard I searched the room, there was nothing there. Just the flickering shadows from the torch on the wall, twisting and turning like they were alive.

I exhaled, trying to steady my racing heart. It had to be my mind playing tricks on me. The tension of the day had been too much. But even as I tried to convince myself, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was lurking in the darkness, waiting for me to slip up.

I turned to leave, but then I heard it again—closer this time, almost right behind me.

“Don’t run, Evanna…”

I spun around, but the room was still empty. My breath came in quick gasps, panic clawing at my chest. The shadows on the walls shifted once more, like something was moving just out of sight.

Suddenly, the door to my chambers creaked open.

I froze, my heart stopping in my chest.

It was Kael.

His silhouette filled the doorway, his tall frame barely visible in the dim light. His black eyes locked onto mine with a gaze so intense, it almost felt as if he were reading my soul.

“Trouble sleeping, Princess?” His voice was smooth, but there was something else in it—something that suggested he knew exactly what had been happening.

I didn’t answer immediately. My mind raced. I could feel the tension between us, crackling like static. Was he behind the whispers? Had he somehow known what was happening? Or was he merely here to taunt me further?

“Isolde is not a kind place to the unprepared,” Kael said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. His movements were deliberate, controlled. He didn’t seem bothered by the darkness, as though he belonged to it. As though it served him.

“I’m not unprepared,” I said, my voice steady, though my heart still hammered in my chest.

“You’re still learning,” he replied, his gaze unwavering. “But you’ll figure it out soon enough. The darkness here… it takes some getting used to.”

The way he said it made my skin crawl. Was he speaking metaphorically? Or did he mean something more literal?

Before I could ask, he moved closer, his presence overwhelming in the small space. The air seemed to thicken, the shadows pulling toward him like they were drawn by an invisible force.

“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice a little more forceful than I intended.

Kael tilted his head slightly, his lips curving into a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I wanted to see if you were ready for the next step. You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Afraid of the dark?”

He took another step closer, his eyes glinting with something dangerous. “You’re already in it, Princess. You just don’t know how deep it goes.”

The air between us crackled with tension, a thousand unspoken words passing between us. The space felt charged, like a storm on the verge of breaking. I could feel his power, his curse, pressing in on me.

I took a step back, refusing to show weakness. “If you think I’ll be intimidated by you or your castle, you’re wrong.”

His smile deepened, but there was something almost sad in it now. “You don’t need to be intimidated, Princess. You’ll come to see that this place isn’t as frightening as it seems. The darkness here is merely another part of life. And soon… it’ll be a part of you.”

I swallowed hard, the weight of his words settling over me. What did he mean by that? Was he threatening me, or was he simply stating a fact?

“Get out,” I said, the command stronger this time.

Kael didn’t move right away. Instead, he lingered, his eyes still locked on mine. For a moment, I wondered if he would leave me there, trapped in the web of his silence. But then he turned, slowly, and made his way toward the door.

“Rest well, Princess,” he said, his voice like ice. “Tomorrow will be… more interesting.”

As the door shut behind him, I sank back against the wall, my breath shaky. The whispers hadn’t stopped. They were still there, slithering in the shadows, wrapping themselves around my thoughts.

I wasn’t sure what I was up against anymore. The darkness was everywhere—inside the castle, inside Kael, and now… inside me.

What had I walked into?