THE KING’S COMMAND
1494 Words
The storm rolled in faster than expected.
Dark clouds pressed against the palace towers, thunder crawling across the sky like a warning whispered by the gods themselves. The air felt heavy charged echoing the same restless pulse inside my chest.
Orion didn’t slow down as he guided me down the dim corridor leading to the East Wing. His grip around my wrist was firm but not painful. Protective. Urgent.
Like he was afraid someone might rip me away if he loosened his hold even a little.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked.
“To my private wing,” he said without looking back.
My heart skipped.
“Your… what?”
He didn’t answer.
He just pushed open a tall obsidian door and pulled me inside.
The room was enormous dark stone walls, silver tapestries, shelves of ancient tomes, flickering spirit-flames in lanterns that didn’t burn with normal fire. A long balcony overlooked the raging sky outside. The whole place smelled like cedar, cold night air, and something uniquely his.
I swallowed.
“Orion—this is—”
“Safe,” he finished sharply. “The Council won’t dare step foot in here without my permission.”
He finally released my wrist.
But he didn’t step away.
Instead, he stood directly in front of me close enough to feel the heat of his body, close enough that the Mark on my collarbone gave a soft, traitorous pulse.
He noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His eyes darkened.
“It reacts every time we’re alone.”
“I don’t know why,” I whispered.
“I do,” he said quietly.
My breath hitched. “Then tell me.”
But he didn’t—not yet.
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing slightly, anger and worry warring across his expression.
Then he stopped.
Turned.
And faced me fully.
“Eira, you need to understand something.”
His voice dropped to that deep, dangerous softness that made the whole world feel too quiet.
“You cannot stay in the general wing anymore. Not for a single night.”
“Because of the Council?” I asked.
His jaw tightened. “Because of everyone.”
My pulse skittered. “Orion—”
“They’re afraid of you,” he said. “They want you eliminated before the Mark’s power grows any further.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“But I didn’t ask for any of this.”
He stepped closer. “I know.”
“And I don’t even understand what the Mark wants.”
Another step.
Close enough that I had to tilt my chin up to hold his gaze.
“I know.” His voice softened. “That’s why I’m moving you here. With me.”
My breath caught.
“W-with you?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
His lips curved into a humorless smirk. “For who?”
I opened my mouth to argue but the look in his eyes made every word die in my throat.
He wasn’t being possessive.
He was being terrified.
Of losing me.
Of failing to protect me.
Of the Trial.
Of the Council’s greed.
Of the spirits whispering my name.
And worst of all
Of what the Mark was turning me into.
“I won’t let them touch you,” he said. “Not even the spirits. Not even fate.”
Something in me trembled.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
The Mark flared again gentle but insistent like it understood him better than I understood myself.
He stepped even closer, lowering his head until our foreheads almost touched.
“You stay here tonight,” he murmured. “And every night until I say otherwise.”
My heart pounded so hard I thought he could hear it.
“Orion… this feels like crossing a line.”
He exhaled, slow, controlled, but his voice cracked with something raw.
“Eira. There is no line anymore.”
Lightning struck outside, illuminating his face—sharp, beautiful, broken in ways he tried to hide.
And then—
A cold whisper brushed my ear.
A spirit’s voice.
Faint.
“He will fall for you… and it will destroy you both…”
I stiffened.
Orion saw my reaction and grabbed my hand instantly.
“What did you hear?” he demanded.
I shook my head, voice tight. “A spirit. It said—”
“I don’t care what they said.”
His hand curled around mine.
“You stay,” he repeated, firmer now.
“Because near me nothing touches you.”
Thunder boomed again.
The Mark glowed, linking us in a soft thread of light.
And I realized
Whether I agreed or not,
whether I understood or not,
my life had already crossed a line there was no returning from.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
The storm outside roared, lightning crawling across the sky like living veins of white fire—but inside the King’s private chamber, everything felt still. Too still. Like the world was holding its breath.
Orion didn’t release my hand.
His thumb brushed over my knuckles once—slow, unintentional, but intimate enough to make my heart twist. He seemed to realize what he’d done, because he froze… yet he still didn’t let go.
“Eira,” he said quietly, “look at me.”
I did.
And the look in his eyes nearly unraveled me.
Not cold.
Not commanding.
Not the terrifying king everyone else saw.
Just… Orion.
A man worn thin by burdens no one else could carry.
“You think staying near me is dangerous,” he said. “But staying away from me right now is worse.”
“Why?” I whispered.
He opened his mouth
but a sudden crack tore through the air.
The lantern flames flickered wildly.
The temperature dropped.
Every shadow in the room deepened at once.
Orion’s expression darkened.
“Spirits,” he muttered. “Not the usual ones.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“I can feel them.”
Before he could react, the Mark on my collarbone burst into light bright, frantic, like it was warning me.
And then
A figure materialized near the balcony.
Not solid. Not human.
A spirit tall, draped in mist, its face twisted like a broken mask. Its voice scraped against the walls like metal dragged across stone.
“The bearer is not safe. The bearer must flee.”
My throat tightened.
Another spirit appeared behind it.
Then another.
And another.
Eight… nine… ten…
A circle of spirits surrounding the room.
Orion moved in front of me instantly, power flaring around him in a violent surge of silver light.
“Touch her,” he warned, voice low and lethal, “and I will obliterate every one of you.”
The spirits didn’t retreat.
They drifted closer.
Their whispers overlapped, too many voices at once:
“RUN.”
“THE TRIAL WILL KILL YOU.”
“THE KING WILL FALL.”
“THE MARK WILL BREAK YOU.”
“FATE IS ALREADY DECIDED—”
“ENOUGH!” Orion roared.
The entire room shook.
Windows rattled.
The balcony doors slammed shut on their own.
The lantern flames exploded into a blaze of silver.
Most spirits evaporated instantly burned away by his power.
But one remained.
It floated right in front of me.
Staring.
Too still.
Too knowing.
A voice soft, almost gentle echoed from its cracked mouth:
“Little bearer… leave him.”
My heart stopped.
Orion stiffened.
“Say another word to her,” he snarled, “and I will rip your essence apart.”
The spirit didn’t even look at him.
Its hollow gaze stayed locked on me.
“If you stay by the King’s side… you will doom the kingdom.
And yourself.”
The last word echoed like a death sentence.
Then it vanished.
Just gone.
Silence crashed back into the room.
My legs went weak.
Orion caught me before I could fall.
“Eira,” he said, breath harsh against my hair, “don’t listen to them. Spirits lie. They twist fate. They feed on fear.”
His arms tightened around me.
“But I won’t let them touch you. I swear it.”
I pressed a hand to his chest trying to steady myself, trying to calm the frantic beat of my heart.
“I don’t know if they were lying,” I whispered.
“I could feel… something. They weren’t warning you, Orion. They were warning me.”
His eyes sharpened, burning with something fierce.
“Then hear this,” he said, voice trembling with restrained emotion.
“You are not leaving. Not running. Not hiding.”
He cupped my face gentle but unyielding.
“You stay. With me.
No matter what fate screams.”
The Mark throbbed hard beneath my skin.
And for the first time since awakening it…
I wasn’t sure if the danger was outside
or standing right in front of me.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD