Chapter Two :The Stranger’s Oath
878 Words
The man’s breathing had steadied, but his eyes—those strange, molten-silver eyes—watched her as if she were the puzzle he couldn’t stop trying to solve.
Aeloria pulled back, brushing the damp hair from her face. “You should rest,” she murmured, rising to fetch a blanket from the healer’s hut.
His voice stopped her mid-step. “Where am I?”
“In Brinvale,” she said, keeping her tone brisk. “A small village, far from whatever trouble you were running from.”
He gave a low, humorless laugh. “Trouble doesn’t care about distance.”
When she didn’t answer, he pushed himself up on one elbow, grimacing but managing to sit. “You healed me,” he said, not as a question but a statement heavy with meaning. “I felt it. The magic.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied, too quickly. The glow in her hands, the way his wound vanished—it couldn’t be explained, not without inviting more questions than she could answer.
He studied her a moment longer, his gaze sharp enough to make her skin prickle. Then, with deliberate slowness, he reached into his cloak and withdrew a medallion. It was silver, engraved with a crescent moon surrounded by stars, and it gleamed faintly even in the dim lamplight.
“My name is Kaelen,” he said, his voice lower now. “Kaelen Veyrith. Crown Prince of the Moon Kingdom… or I was, before I was exiled.”
Aeloria froze. She’d heard whispers of the Moon Kingdom—a land of glass towers and silver seas—but it was distant, almost mythical. Its royal politics had nothing to do with Brinvale. Or so she’d thought.
“I’m supposed to believe you’re a prince?” she asked, arching a brow.
“You don’t have to believe me,” he replied with a faint smirk, though his eyes held no mirth. “But you should know this—shadow beasts are hunting me. And now that you’ve touched me with your magic, they’ll hunt you, too.”
The memory of black, twisted shapes flickered in her mind—half-heard tales of creatures born from the cracks between worlds. She folded her arms, refusing to show the flicker of unease his words caused. “And why would they come after me?”
“Because you’ve marked yourself,” he said simply. “Healing me bound our fates, whether you meant to or not.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she muttered, turning away. “I saved your life. That’s all.”
He was silent for a moment, then his voice became softer, more serious. “Where I come from, a life saved is a debt owed. You have my oath, Aeloria—until that debt is repaid, I will protect you.”
She turned back to face him, startled that he knew her name.
“You were unconscious when I—”
“You think I don’t hear things in my sleep?” His smirk deepened, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I heard the seer call you ‘child of the Moon.’ He wasn’t wrong.”
“I’m not—” She broke off, shaking her head. “Look, I don’t know who you are or what your kingdom’s problems are, but I have my own life here. I don’t need your protection.”
The smirk faded. “Need it or not, you’ll have it. That’s my oath.”
Something in his tone left no room for argument. It was the voice of a man accustomed to command, one that made the fine hairs on her neck rise.
She busied herself with the blanket, draping it over his shoulders more roughly than necessary. “Fine. Rest. Then, in the morning, you can be on your way.”
His hand shot out, catching her wrist before she could pull back. His grip wasn’t harsh, but it was firm, and his eyes—Moon above, those eyes—held hers with unnerving intensity.
“If I leave, they’ll come here,” he said quietly. “And they won’t stop at you. Your village will burn.”
The image struck her like a physical blow—Brinvale’s narrow lanes lit with fire, the air thick with smoke and screams.
“I don’t know how you think I can help you,” she said, her voice unsteady despite herself.
“You already have,” Kaelen said, finally releasing her. “But there’s more. You’re part of something bigger than this village, Aeloria. Bigger than you realize.”
She almost laughed, but it came out thin and humorless. “That sounds like the kind of talk people use to get others killed.”
“Or to save them,” he countered.
For a long moment, neither spoke. The only sound was the faint rustle of the wind against the shutters. Somewhere outside, a wolf howled—low, mournful, and too close for comfort.
Kaelen’s gaze flicked to the window. “They’re near.”
She felt a chill crawl over her skin. “Wolves?”
He shook his head. “Worse.”
The words lingered between them, heavy with meaning.
For reasons she couldn’t name, she believed him.
- Writer
