Chapter One : The Hunt
1339 Words
There were certain things Seraphina Vale had learned very early in life.
The first was that silence was safer than speaking.
The second was that beauty could become a curse when people feared what they could not understand.
And the third, the most painful of all, was that no matter how hard she tried to belong, the world around her would always look at her as though something about her was terribly, terribly wrong.
Even now, as she stood before the long mirror in her room, she could feel it.
That wrongness.
Not in her heart.
Never there.
But in the reflection staring back at her.
Silver hair.
Not pale blonde.
Not gold.
Silver.
Like moonlight woven into strands of silk.
And eyes so blue they almost seemed unnatural beneath the dim morning light.
People stared at those eyes.
Sometimes with curiosity.
Mostly with discomfort.
Children had once cried at the sight of her.
Adults whispered.
Servants crossed themselves when they thought she could not see.
Even her own father struggled to look at her for too long.
Seraphina lowered her gaze.
Outside her bedroom door, laughter echoed faintly through the halls of the estate.
Her stepsister.
Elara.
The sound was followed by another voice—sharp, elegant, cold.
Her stepmother.
A familiar ache settled quietly in Seraphina’s chest.
Funny, how loneliness could become so normal that it stopped feeling sharp and simply became part of you.
Like breathing.
A knock came at her door.
Not gentle.
Impatient.
“You are late again,” her stepmother said as she entered without permission.
Seraphina immediately stood.
“I apologize.”
“You apologize for everything,” the woman replied. “Yet somehow remain disappointing.”
Her gaze swept over Seraphina critically.
Even after all these years, that look still hurt.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Something colder.
Disgust.
“You will accompany us to the southern gardens today,” her stepmother continued. “Lord Everston’s family will be visiting.”
Seraphina hesitated slightly.
“They do not enjoy my presence.”
“Of course they do not,” the woman snapped. “You unsettle people.”
The words were spoken so casually.
As though discussing weather.
As though they did not slice through flesh.
Seraphina swallowed quietly.
“I understand.”
Her stepmother stepped closer then, her eyes narrowing faintly.
“Fix your hair before you come downstairs,” she said. “At the very least, try to appear less… strange.”
Then she left.
The door shut behind her.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Seraphina remained still for several seconds before slowly sitting back down.
Strange.
Unsettling.
Wrong.
How many times had she heard those words?
Enough that they no longer surprised her.
Enough that a part of her had begun wondering if perhaps they were true.
Her fingers moved unconsciously to the silver strands falling over her shoulder.
When she had been younger, she used to pray they would darken with age.
That maybe one morning she would wake up looking ordinary.
Human.
But the years passed.
And she only looked less so.
A sudden tightness rose in her chest.
She inhaled slowly.
Then stood.
If she stayed inside this suffocating room any longer, she thought she might shatter beneath the weight of it.
---
The forest beyond the estate had always felt different to her.
Quieter.
Kinder.
As though the world there asked nothing from her.
No forced smiles.
No lowered gazes.
No whispered cruelties.
Only wind.
Only trees.
Only peace.
Seraphina stepped carefully through the tall grass, lifting the edges of her pale dress slightly as she wandered deeper between the woods.
Sunlight spilled through the branches overhead in fractured beams of gold.
Beautiful.
Still.
Alive.
For the first time all day, she breathed easily.
Then—
a distant horn echoed through the forest.
Seraphina froze.
Her heart skipped.
No.
Slowly, she turned her head toward the sound.
Another horn followed.
Closer this time.
Realization struck instantly.
Royal hunting grounds.
Fear curled sharply through her stomach.
She had crossed too far.
Everyone knew these woods belonged to the Crown.
Trespassers were punished severely.
Especially by this king.
The king no one ever saw.
The king people spoke about in lowered voices.
The ruthless king wrapped in rumors and shadow.
Seraphina turned quickly.
She needed to leave.
Now.
But before she could move—
something burst violently through the trees.
A stag.
Massive.
Terrified.
It ran past her so suddenly she stumbled backward in shock, her pulse leaping wildly.
Then came the sound behind it.
Horse hooves.
Fast.
Closing in.
Her breath caught.
And then—
silence.
Not natural silence.
Not peaceful silence.
This silence felt alive.
Watching.
A chill crawled slowly down her spine.
“Do not move.”
The voice came from somewhere behind her.
Deep.
Controlled.
Quiet enough that it should not have frightened her.
And yet every part of her body immediately obeyed.
Slowly—
very slowly—
Seraphina turned.
At first she saw only shadows between the trees.
Then a horse emerged from the darkness.
Black as night.
Large enough to look almost monstrous beneath the fading sunlight.
And seated atop it—
was him.
Everything about the stranger felt wrong in a way she could not explain.
Not ugly.
Not cruel.
Worse.
Powerful.
Terribly powerful.
His black coat moved softly with the wind, dark gloves tightening slightly around the reins as piercing eyes settled onto her face.
And the moment they did—
something inside her stopped.
No.
Not stopped.
Awakened.
Her breath disappeared.
The world blurred strangely around the edges.
Those eyes—
God.
They were not human eyes.
Dark as midnight.
Ancient.
Endless.
And looking at her with something so intense it made her chest ache.
Lucien D’Arcy had lived for centuries.
Long enough to watch kingdoms rise and rot.
Long enough to forget what surprise felt like.
Long enough that nothing in this world should have affected him anymore.
Yet the moment he saw her—
everything inside him descended into chaos.
The shadows beneath his skin stirred violently.
Hungry.
Restless.
Recognizing.
Impossible.
His gaze locked onto her silver hair.
Her blue eyes.
And suddenly, horrifyingly—
he understood.
Not fully.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough to know she should not exist.
Enough to know fate had just placed something dangerous directly before him.
Seraphina felt her pulse pounding violently beneath her skin as he slowly dismounted the horse.
He moved like darkness given form.
Elegant.
Controlled.
Terrifying.
Yet she could not look away.
“Who are you?” he asked quietly.
His voice sent something strange through her chest.
Warm.
Sharp.
Painful.
“Seraphina,” she answered softly before she could stop herself.
The moment her name left her lips—
the wind changed.
Lucien felt it instantly.
The forest darkened slightly around them.
The shadows at his feet twisted unnaturally.
And for the first time in centuries—
fear touched him.
Not fear of her.
Fear of what her existence meant.
Seraphina saw his expression shift slightly.
Not visibly.
Most people would never notice it.
But she did.
And somehow…
that frightened her more than anger would have.
“I did not mean to trespass,” she whispered quickly. “I got lost.”
Lucien stepped closer.
One step.
Then another.
The closer he came, the more unnatural the air around him felt.
Like standing too close to a storm.
Every instinct warned him to leave.
To walk away before it was too late.
But he could not.
Because something deep inside him had already chosen her.
The realization hit with brutal clarity.
And it terrified him.
“You should not be here,” he said softly.
Neither of them understood how true those words really were.
Seraphina swallowed hard.
“I will leave immediately.”
But Lucien barely heard her.
Because all he could think, all he could feel was the unbearable certainty that after centuries of emptiness…
he had finally found the one thing capable of destroying him.
And somewhere deep beneath the earth something ancient awakened.
- Writer
