Silver eyes and Sharp teeth
819 Words
Kael avoided Lucien the next morning.
Which was difficult.
Apparently the gods enjoyed punishing him now.
Every hallway somehow led to the werewolf prince.
Every conversation mentioned Lunaris.
Every servant whispered nervously whenever Lucien passed nearby.
And worst of all—
Kael kept thinking about the balcony.
About the way Lucien looked at him beneath moonlight.
About that smile.
Annoying.
Deeply annoying.
“You’re distracted.”
Kael glanced toward his sister coldly from across the breakfast table.
“I’m listening.”
“You just poured wine into your tea.”
Silence.
Kael slowly looked down.
Unfortunately—
She was right.
His sister smiled wickedly. “Interesting.”
“It was an accident.”
“Mhm.”
Kael immediately stood up.
“I suddenly remember important responsibilities elsewhere.”
“You mean the wolf prince?”
“I mean literally anything else.”
Her laughter followed him through the dining hall.
Traitor.
The palace corridors were quieter during mornings. Soft sunlight slipped through stained glass windows, painting dark colors across the marble floors.
Kael walked calmly toward the royal library.
Finally.
Peace.
Or not.
“You really are avoiding me.”
Kael stopped walking immediately.
Lucien sat lazily across one of the library window seats, a massive ancient book resting open in his hands.
He looked entirely too comfortable inside Noctaryn’s royal library.
“How did you even get in here?” Kael asked.
“Your guards stopped me.”
“And yet.”
“They lost.”
Kael stared at him flatly.
Lucien grinned slightly.
“That was a joke.”
“You don’t look trustworthy enough for jokes.”
“You look too pretty to be this unfriendly.”
Silence.
Kael blinked once.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
Lucien realized his mistake immediately.
“Oh,” the werewolf prince murmured. “That one upset you.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“But was I wrong?”
Kael genuinely considered murder for a moment.
Mostly because his heartbeat reacted in an extremely embarrassing way to that sentence.
“You flirt very strangely,” Kael said coldly.
Lucien closed the book carefully before standing.
“And you get nervous very easily.”
“I do not get nervous.”
“You poured wine into tea this morning.”
Kael froze.
“How do you know that?”
“I saw it.”
“You were watching me at breakfast?”
“You looked good irritated.”
That should not have affected him.
It did anyway.
Kael looked away first.
Again.
This was becoming unacceptable.
Lucien stepped closer slowly now, silver eyes studying him carefully.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look away first.”
Kael crossed his arms immediately.
“You assume too much.”
“And you deny too much.”
That sounded familiar.
Dangerously familiar.
The library suddenly felt too small.
Too quiet.
Kael could hear the rain beginning softly outside the tall windows.
Storm clouds again.
Good.
Storms made thinking easier.
Usually.
“You hate me less today,” Lucien observed quietly.
“I absolutely do not.”
“That wasn’t convincing at all.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re very confident for someone surrounded by vampires.”
Lucien leaned casually against the bookshelf beside him.
“You haven’t attacked me yet.”
“Would you like me to?”
“Depends how.”
Kael stared at him.
Lucien stared back.
Then suddenly—
Both of them laughed.
Very briefly.
Very quietly.
But real.
And somehow—
That felt more dangerous than every tense conversation before this.
Because now Kael understood the problem clearly.
Lucien wasn’t just attractive.
He was easy to talk to.
Easy to look at.
Easy to want around.
That was the dangerous part.
The palace doors outside the library suddenly opened loudly.
Both princes looked up instantly.
A royal guard approached quickly before bowing.
“Your Highness,” the guard said toward Kael carefully. “Your father requests your presence immediately.”
Kael frowned slightly.
“My father hates interruptions during council meetings.”
“Apparently this matter cannot wait.”
Something uneasy settled in Kael’s chest immediately.
Lucien noticed.
“What happened?”
The guard hesitated briefly.
Then—
“There was an attack near the eastern border last night.”
Silence.
Every trace of warmth disappeared instantly.
“Which side?” Kael asked coldly.
The guard swallowed carefully.
“Witnesses claim werewolves crossed into Noctaryn territory.”
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
Lucien’s expression hardened beside him.
“That’s impossible,” the werewolf prince said flatly.
“The border guards disagree.”
Tension exploded through the room instantly.
Kael looked toward Lucien slowly.
Lucien looked equally furious.
And suddenly—
The fragile peace between kingdoms no longer felt stable at all.
Because if blood had already been spilled again—
War could begin all over.
And this time—
Kael wasn’t sure which side terrified him more.
- Writer
