Chapter Two cont'd II
605 Words
The storm hadn’t stopped since nightfall.
It roared outside the citadel walls, wind lashing against the stained-glass windows like a creature trying to claw its way in. Inside, the air was quieter—too quiet. The kind of silence that pressed against the skin and made every breath sound like a secret.
Liora sat at the edge of the bed, her wrists still sore where the silver cuffs had been. Someone had removed them while she slept. The faint red marks glowed softly in the candlelight, a reminder that she was a prisoner… and something far more dangerous.
The door creaked open.
Kael stepped inside, his armor gone, dressed instead in a black tunic that looked wrong on him—too human. His eyes caught the candlelight, shards of gold and midnight burning together.
“You shouldn’t be awake,” he said.
“You shouldn’t have taken the cuffs off,” she replied, her voice flat but steady.
He gave a slow, almost imperceptible smile. “If you wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it by now.”
Liora’s lips parted. “You think I haven’t thought about it?”
“I’d be disappointed if you hadn’t.”
He moved closer, each step measured, deliberate. There was something about him tonight—less prince, more predator. The storm outside echoed in him.
When he stopped, just an arm’s length away, Liora could feel the pull again—that strange hum between them, the same energy that had flared in the forest. It wasn’t natural. It was ancient. Alive.
Kael’s hand lifted, fingers brushing the faint glow along her wrist. “Your power reacts to mine,” he murmured, almost to himself. “As if it knows me.”
“Don’t,” she whispered, but it came out softer than she intended.
He looked up sharply. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t pretend you understand it.”
“I don’t,” he admitted. “But I intend to.”
The air crackled. The candle nearest them sputtered, the flame bending toward where their bodies almost touched. The room seemed smaller—heavy with something neither of them dared name.
Liora stood abruptly. “You think I’m part of your prophecy, but I’m not. I didn’t ask for this curse. I just want to be free of it.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Freedom isn’t something the gods give. It’s something we take.”
“And what would you take, Prince?”
He stepped closer still. “Whatever stands between me and the truth.”
His eyes flicked to her lips when he said it, and for one heartbeat, the world forgot how to breathe.
But before the moment could fracture, a deep boom echoed through the citadel. The windows rattled. The storm outside howled louder, darker.
Kael turned toward the sound. “That wasn’t thunder.”
From somewhere below, a scream split the night.
The door burst open—a soldier stumbled in, blood streaked across his chestplate.
“Your Highness! The western gates—they’ve fallen. The Cursed have breached the walls!”
Kael’s expression turned to ice. He grabbed his sword and turned to Liora. “Stay here.”
But she was already moving. “You’ll need me.”
“Need you?” he snapped. “You’re the reason this is happening.”
Her eyes burned. “Maybe. But if I’m the reason it began—then I’ll be the reason it ends.”
They stared at each other, defiance and dread twisting together like smoke and fire. Then Kael gave a short, sharp nod.
“Then stay close. And don’t die.”
- Writer
