THE CURSED BLOODLINE

Chapter 5

: The Darkness Within Him

Adrian's eyes turned completely black, and the golden ring in his palm cracked.

I stumbled backward, knocking into a table. The candles flickered violently, their flames stretching toward him as though drawn by an invisible wind. Queen Seraphina stared at her son with an expression I had never seen on her face before.

Fear.

“Adrian,” she whispered. “Look at me.”

He did not answer.

Dark veins crept from beneath his collar, spreading across his neck like ink spilled beneath his skin. His fingers curled around the broken ring, and a low growl escaped his throat. The sound was not entirely human.

“Stay away from him!” Seraphina ordered.

I stared at her incredulously. “You told me you were protecting him from my bloodline. What is happening to him?”

“The curse,” she replied, her voice trembling. “It was never supposed to awaken until the crown was claimed.”

Adrian suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Run,” he gasped.

His voice sounded painfully familiar, yet something ancient whispered beneath it.

“Evelina, please. Get away from me.”

I wanted to obey. Every instinct screamed that the man before me was dangerous, that the darkness consuming him could destroy everyone in this room. But beneath his trembling hands, I saw the young prince who had stood between me and armed soldiers. I remembered his promise to discover the truth.

I could not abandon him.

I approached slowly.

“Adrian, listen to me. You are not alone.”

His head snapped upward. For a heartbeat, his eyes returned to silver.

Then the darkness surged.

He threw me across the room.

My back struck the bookshelf, sending ancient volumes crashing around me. Pain exploded through my shoulder, and I struggled to breathe. Before I could rise, Adrian stood over me, his expression twisted with agony.

“Get out,” he snarled.

“I won't.”

“You don't understand what I am!”

“Then tell me!”

His face crumpled.

“I can hear something inside me,” he whispered. “It knows your name. It wants your blood.”

A terrible silence settled over the library.

Behind him, Queen Seraphina began reciting words in a language I had never heard. Silver light gathered between her hands, forming a chain that wrapped around Adrian's wrists.

He screamed.

The sound shattered the remaining windows.

“Stop!” I cried.

Seraphina tightened her fists. “If I release him, he will kill you.”

“And if you continue, you will kill him!”

For the first time, I saw uncertainty in the queen's eyes. Her son writhed against the magical chains, his blackened fingers clawing at the floor.

I reached toward him.

The moment my fingertips touched his cheek, the darkness recoiled.

A brilliant red light erupted between us. Images flooded my mind: a ruined battlefield, a silver crown covered in blood, and two children standing beneath a burning sky. One had Adrian's eyes. The other wore my mother's crown.

Between them stood a shadow wearing the face of a king.

Then a voice thundered through my thoughts.

Two heirs. One throne. One must die.

I gasped and withdrew my hand.

Adrian collapsed.

The black veins disappeared from his skin, and his eyes slowly returned to silver. He lay motionless, his breathing shallow. I dropped beside him, pressing my fingers against his neck until I felt his pulse.

“He's alive,” I whispered.

Seraphina lowered her hands. For several seconds, she looked not like a queen, but like a mother who had nearly lost her child.

Then her expression hardened.

“You must never touch him again.”

I rose unsteadily. “You owe me answers.”

“I owe you nothing.”

“You know what happened to my mother. You know why Adrian carries this curse. And you know why the crown chose me.”

Her silence answered more than words could have.

I stepped closer. “Tell me the truth, or I will discover it myself.”

Seraphina studied me with cold, calculating eyes.

“Your mother and my husband were once allies,” she finally said. “Together, they tried to destroy an ancient power buried beneath Eldoria. They failed. The curse entered their bloodlines, binding their children to a destiny neither could escape.”

“Then why attack my family?”

“Because your mother wanted to break the curse by destroying the crown.”

“And you stopped her.”

“I saved my son.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “By imprisoning my mother?”

The queen looked away.

Before I could demand more, the library doors burst open. Mara rushed inside, her face pale, her clothes stained with blood.

“Evelina, we must leave immediately.”

“What happened?”

“The guards have found the hidden chapel. The prisoner is gone.”

Seraphina turned sharply. “Impossible.”

Mara seized my shoulders. “He escaped through the eastern tunnels. He left a message.”

She opened her trembling hand.

Inside lay a silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon. I recognized it instantly from the vision of my mother. It had hung around her neck.

A note was tied to its chain.

I unfolded it.

Come to the ruins before midnight. Your mother is waiting. Come alone, or the prince will die.

My heart stopped.

Adrian stirred behind me, whispering my name.

And beneath the palace, something answered him.