Bound by Moonfire

CHAPTER 4

THE FIRST ATTACK

The warning bells shook the palace as smoke crept through the corridors.

A deafening crash came from the eastern gate. Somewhere outside, horses screamed, metal clashed, and guards shouted over the roar of spreading flames.

“Your Majesty! The eastern gate has fallen!”

Kael's hand closed around his sword.

Before he could respond, a voice rang through the chaos.

“Find the girl! Take her alive!”

Aurelia's blood ran cold.

The girl.

They had come for her.

The palace doors burst open, and three masked attackers rushed inside. One swung a blade at Kael, forcing him backward, while another charged straight toward Aurelia.

She ducked just in time. The blade sliced through the air above her head, and she drove her elbow into the attacker's ribs before snatching a fallen sword from the floor.

“Not bad,” Kael called, deflecting another strike.

“Stop watching me and fight!”

A sharp laugh escaped him, but it vanished when a fourth attacker emerged from the smoke behind her.

“Aurelia!”

Kael abandoned his opponent and lunged toward her, knocking her out of the attacker's path. His shoulder struck the stone wall with a heavy thud, but he barely seemed to notice.

For one brief moment, his silver eyes searched her face.

Then he turned toward the attacker, and the temperature in the corridor seemed to drop.

The man hesitated.

It was his last mistake.

Kael drove him back, his sword flashing beneath the flickering torchlight.

Meanwhile, Aurelia faced the remaining enemy. Her hands trembled around the unfamiliar weapon, but she held her ground, watching his movements until he lunged. She twisted aside and struck his sword from his grasp.

It clattered across the stones.

“Who sent you?” she demanded.

The masked man smiled.

“The Queen's return changes everything.”

Before she could question him, he threw a small black object at the floor.

A burst of white smoke swallowed the corridor.

Aurelia coughed, blinking through the stinging haze. She heard hurried footsteps, the scrape of steel, and then silence.

When the smoke cleared, the attackers were gone.

Kael stood a few feet away, his sword lowered, his breathing uneven. A tear ran through his sleeve where the blade had caught him.

Aurelia noticed it immediately.

“You're hurt.”

“It's nothing.”

“Wonderful. The king is also a terrible liar.”

She reached toward his sleeve, but he caught her wrist before she touched it. For a second, they stared at each other, the silver bond glowing faintly between them.

Then he released her.

“Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

Aurelia nodded, though her heart was still racing.

Kael looked toward the shattered doors. His expression darkened when he remembered how close the attacker had come to reaching her.

He had faced assassins, armies, and threats to his crown without losing his composure.

Yet the thought of that blade reaching Aurelia had made him forget everything else.

He didn't understand it.

And he certainly wasn't ready to admit it.

Aurelia picked up her sword.

“We need to find out who sent them.”

Kael glanced at her, a reluctant smile touching his lips.

“Agreed, Your Majesty.”

“Call me that again, and I'll use this sword on you.”

For the first time that night, Kael laughed.

Then a guard came running through the smoke, carrying something clenched in his fist.

“We found this on one of the attackers.”

He opened his hand.

A black ring rested in his palm, marked with a silver crown split down the middle.

Kael's smile disappeared.

Aurelia noticed.

“You recognize it?”

His eyes turned cold.

“Yes.”

He looked toward the darkened courtyard.

“It's the royal seal of a kingdom that was destroyed three hundred years ago.”

Aurelia's stomach tightened.

The same kingdom the High Priestess had warned them about.

The kingdom of Queen Seraphine.