Bound To The Cursed Prince

Midnight Summons

I slipped through the narrow servant corridors with my heart still racing against my ribs. It echoed the chaos of the restricted training wing. The stone walls felt colder than usual against my fingertips as I moved quickly. I brushed past the damp masonry to anchor myself in the dark. Every shadow cast by the distant wall sconces made me flinch. Prince Asher had let me go after the blood bargain. He opened the heavy timber doors and dismissed me into the night. But his presence lingered in my mind like an unwelcome guest.

The soul resonance still hummed under my skin. It was a faint silver spark that refused to settle back into dormancy. I pressed a trembling hand into my chest. I felt the strange vibration pulsing over my heart. The connection felt wrong. It felt highly dangerous. It felt as though he had reached inside my chest. He pulled back the layers of safety I had spent a decade building. He left a piece of his own volatile self behind.

The main kitchens were completely quiet now when I finally reached the lower levels. Most of the servants had long since gone to bed. They left the massive hearths to die down into graying embers. I kept my steps incredibly light. I carefully avoided the main flagstone halls where the midnight patrols liked to linger. The hem of my torn dress brushed against my bare legs with a soft scraping sound.

Worse than the dress was the sharp ache in my hand. The shallow cut on my palm throbbed painfully where our blood had physically mixed. The magic still tingled along the edges of the wound. The bargain replayed in my head on an endless loop. Help him break his ancient curse or face the wrath of the Ash Council. Freedom gold and a new life in exchange for the dangerous power I had sworn never to use. It sounded simple when he said it. It sounded cold and perfectly transactional.

But nothing about Prince Asher was simple. He was ruthless, calculating and brutal during our training session. Yet when our powers touched, when that silver flame met his amber fire, something fundamental had shifted between us. A deep magnetic pull had awakened. It was a connection I did not want to name, let alone acknowledge.

I trusted no one in this citadel, especially not a prince from the royal family that had thoroughly destroyed mine. My father had warned me multiple times before the council took him. The Dravens could not be trusted under any circumstances. They burned everything they touched. They consumed people like kindling for their own ambitions. Yet here I was bound to the crown prince by blood magic and a terrifying vow. The thought made my stomach twist into painful knots. What if he simply used my power until the curse was broken and then discarded me like trash? What if this soul bond made me weak, bleeding my defenses dry? I had survived this long by staying completely hidden by suppressing my power until I was invisible. Now Asher wanted me to unleash it for his benefit.

The heavy oak door to the servant quarters creaked softly as I pushed it open. The sound magnified in the quiet night. The long room was dim. It was illuminated only by a few tallow candles flickering on the washstands. Most of the girls were already fast asleep on their narrow straw cots. Their breathing was slow and synchronized. I moved carefully to my corner bed. I slid onto the mattress and sat down heavily.

My entire body ached from the training session. Dark bruises were already blooming on my arms where he had grabbed me to test my reaction time. The resonance still echoed faintly in the back of my mind. If I focused too hard I could almost feel his lingering frustration, his physical pain and his cold, unyielding determination to survive the winter. I shook my head hard trying to clear the mental static. This connection was a curse of its own.

Mira stirred on the cot right beside mine. The straw mattress rustled loudly. She sat up slowly rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Her dark curls were messy from sleep. She had always been my closest friend in this bleak place. She was the one person who made the hard days bearable with her sharp humor and unwavering loyalty. Tonight her eyes sharpened instantly as she looked across the gap between our beds.

"Ember," she whispered. Her voice was low so as not to wake the others. "You are back incredibly late. And you look like you just fought a storm. What on earth happened to you?"

I forced a small reassuring smile onto my face. I quickly pulled my thin blanket over my lap to hide the torn fabric at my knees. "It is nothing important, Mira. Just extra work down in the main kitchens. Lady Vesper was in a terrible mood again and demanded the silver be polished before dawn."

Mira narrowed her eyes. She leaned closer until I could see the skepticism in her gaze. She knew me far too well for a lie that flimsy to work. "You are lying to me. Your hands are visibly shaking and there is dried blood on your sleeve. Did someone hurt you tonight? Tell me the truth Ember. I will help you fix it."

The genuine concern in her voice made my chest feel incredibly tight. A wave of guilt washed over me. I wanted to tell her everything right then. I wanted to confess about the bargain: the silver power hiding in my blood and the terrifying prince waiting in the shadows. But the secret was too heavy, too dangerous for her to bear. If the Ash Council ever found out I was an Emberwraith anyone associated with me would be dragged down to the chopping block. I could not risk her life just to comfort myself.

"It is nothing Mira, really," I insisted. I kept my voice a quiet whisper. "I just tripped over a stray stool while carrying the heavy iron trays. It was a clumsy night, that is all."

She did not look even remotely convinced. Her hand reached out across the space and touched my arm gently. Her fingers rested on a fresh bruise. "You have been acting so strange lately, Ember. Disappearing at odd hours coming back with these bruises. If one of the high servants or guards is bothering you, we can go to the head caretaker together. Or I can help you sneak out of the citadel entirely. You do not have to carry everything alone."

Her words hit deep. They twisted the knife of guilt in my heart. Mira had always been the brave one. She was the one to push me to fight back against the injustice of our lives and to dream of a future beyond the servant quarters. But I could not drag her into a war with the gods. The bargain with Asher was my burden to carry my risk to take.

"I am fine truly" I said. I gently pulled my arm back to break the contact. "Just completely exhausted. Go back to sleep, Mira."

Mira watched me for a long silent moment. Worry lined her face in the candlelight. She finally lay back down on her pillow, turning her back to me. But I knew she was spinning questions in her mind. "I am here if you need me, Ember. Always remember that."

"I know," I whispered. I lay down on my own hard cot.

The thin blanket did very little to ward off the chill seeping up through the floorboards. Sleep would not come easy tonight. My mind kept returning to Asher to the exact moment our powers had resonated when our blood mixed. The bond felt alive like an invisible silver thread connecting us across the vast expanse of the academy. I could sense his restlessness even now. The constant burning heat of his curse hovered in the periphery of my consciousness. It terrified me. How could I trust someone who held my entire life in his hands? Someone whose family had systematically murdered mine?

Yet a traitorous part of me felt the pull. The resonance had shown me his pain, the agonizing reality of burning alive from the inside out. I hated that I understood his desperation to survive. I hated that it made me want to help him, even just a little.

No, I reminded myself to harden my heart. I would use this bargain strictly to my advantage. I would learn control over my power, use his resources to gain my total freedom and then disappear into the western lands where no prince could ever find me. That was the plan. Nothing more.

The hours dragged on in the darkness. I tossed and turned on the hard mattress, unable to find peace as the soul bond hummed faintly in the back of my mind. Asher was awake too. I could feel it. He was planning to wait for his floors. The connection made me feel less alone in the dark. But it also made me feel utterly trapped. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to push the sensation away. I used the old metal walls that had kept me safe for years. Suppression was my armor. I could not let one arrogant prince change that.

Suddenly, a soft deliberate knock sounded at the main servant's door.

I sat up quickly. My heart leaped into my throat. Beside me, Mira stirred slightly but stayed asleep. I crept silently across the cold floorboards and opened the door a tiny crack. A royal guard stood in the corridor. His armor was muffled with cloth. His face was completely blank.

"Prince Asher summons you," the guard said quietly. His voice cut through the silence. "Midnight training. Now."

My stomach dropped into a hollow pit. So soon. I had barely recovered from the first brutal session. The bruises on my arms were still tender. I nodded numbly. I slipped through the crack of the door without waking the others. The guard turned immediately, leading me through the dark winding halls of the upper levels.

My mind raced with every step. Another training session meant more tests, more pain and more calculated cruelty from the prince. But it also meant more access to my power. The bargain had officially begun. I had absolutely no choice but to follow the path laid out for me.

As we walked deeper into the restricted wing, the soul resonance grew noticeably stronger. I could feel Asher waiting for me behind the heavy doors. His impatience spiked. His desperate need for a cure thrummed through the bond. The midnight training would undoubtedly push me further. It would force me to face the silver fire I had hidden for a decade.

I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin. I would survive this night just as I had survived the destruction of my family. I would learn I would grow stronger and one day I would be free.

The heavy iron doors of the training wing loomed ahead in the shadows. The guard stepped forward and pulled them open. He revealed the vast cavern within. Prince Asher stood in the center. The torchlight caught the amber glow beneath his skin. His eyes met mine across the chamber. The soul bond flared bright and hot between us. The real work had only just started.