Chapter 6
1075 Words
Vaeren’s voice cut through the heavy silence of their shared chamber, low and unyielding.
"You should eat."
Xyra didn’t turn to face him. She sat by the window, staring out at Vyrmora's sprawling expanse of jagged peaks and molten rivers, her fingers digging into the stone sill.
Outside, the dragon colossi circled like shadows against the bruised sky, their silhouettes enormous and relentless. She could feel the distant tremor of their wings, hear the guttural rumble of their roars echoing through the fortress.
"I’m not hungry," she said, voice brittle.
Vaeren leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching her like a predator deciding whether or not to pounce.
"You haven’t eaten since we arrived," he said. "Are you trying to die? Because there are far quicker ways to achieve that here."
Xyra’s fingers curled tighter against the stone.
"I’d rather starve than swallow anything from your table."
He laughed, the sound sharp and humorless. "Starve, then. It changes nothing."
She flinched, the truth of it sinking like a blade into her chest.
He was right. Her suffering was meaningless to him and she somehow misses her father, her friends, and lastly, Kaelor.
Vaeren moved closer, the heat of his presence prickling against her skin like an unwanted touch.
"You mistake my restraint for mercy," he murmured, his voice brushing against her ear like smoke. "I haven’t harmed you because I don’t need to. The bond will break you long before I ever lift a finger."
Xyra turned to him, her eyes burning with defiance.
"You don’t know me."
He tilted his head, a slow, wicked smile tugging at his mouth. "I know your kind. You reek of desperation. Clinging to your pride like it’ll save you. But pride is the first thing to die here."
Her wolf snarled beneath her skin, but the bond's magic coiled like a chain, choking the instinct to lash out. Vaeren stepped back, watching her with something that almost resembled curiosity.
Almost.
"Rest," he ordered, turning toward the door. "You’ll need your strength."
"For what?" she snapped.
He paused, glancing over his shoulder.
"For survival."
The door shut behind him, the lock clicking into place like a finality. Xyra pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window, her chest heaving with the weight of her restraint.
She hated him. Hated the way he lingered in her mind even after he was gone. Hated the way her body responded to his presence, no matter how fiercely she tried to reject it.
The bond was a poison. And she could already feel it spreading.
Days blurred together in a haze of suffocating silence. Xyra wandered the fortress under the constant gaze of Vaeren’s guards, their scaled armor glinting like molten gold. They didn’t speak to her. Didn’t acknowledge her.
They only watched. Always watching.
The Drakarion was endless, a labyrinth of towering corridors and cavernous halls, each more imposing than the last. The fortress pulsed with magic, the walls themselves alive with ancient energy. Emberlight flickered in sconces carved from dragon bones, casting jagged shadows that danced like specters.
But it was the people that made the place unbearable.
The courtiers prowled through the fortress like serpents, their golden eyes glimmering with disdain whenever she passed. They whispered as she walked by, their voices like knives against her skin.
She didn’t understand the words, but she didn’t need to. She could feel the malice in every glance, every sneer. She was an abomination in their eyes.
A beast trespassing in their sacred realm. And she was completely, utterly alone.
It wasn’t long before Queen Lyanna called for her.
Xyra was escorted to the queen’s private garden, an ethereal space suspended above the fortress, where obsidian bridges arched over rivers of lava and blackened petals bloomed in the volcanic ash.
Lyanna stood at the edge of the balcony, her silver hair flowing like silk in the ashen breeze.
"You’re still alive," the queen mused without turning. "I must admit, I expected you to crumble by now."
Xyra clenched her fists. "It’ll take more than a few cold stares to break me."
Lyanna finally turned, her golden eyes gleaming like molten suns.
"You overestimate your strength, little wolf," she said, stepping closer. "This is not your kingdom. You are not a princess here. You are a curse."
Xyra’s pulse hammered, but she didn’t flinch.
"You think I wanted this?" she hissed. "You think I wanted to be dragged from my home? To be bound to a monster?"
Lyanna’s smile was razor-sharp.
"My son is a prince," she said, voice like velvet over steel. "A god among mortals. And you…" She looked Xyra up and down, her expression laced with contempt. "You are nothing more than a mistake the gods have yet to correct."
Xyra’s wolf thrashed against the bond, fury blazing through her like wildfire. But she held herself still. Because she knew the queen wanted her to snap. Wanted her to give them a reason to tear her apart.
"I don’t care what you or your people think of me," Xyra bit out. "I won’t break for you. Or him. Or anyone."
Lyanna’s smile didn’t waver.
"Oh, child," she whispered, brushing her fingers against Xyra’s cheek in a mockery of affection.
"You already have."
.
.
.
Later that night, Xyra sat on the stone floor of her chamber, her fingers tracing the bond mark on her wrist.
It burned. A constant, aching reminder that her body was no longer her own. She pressed her palm against the mark, teeth gritted as she tried to smother the pain.
But it wasn’t just the magic that hurt. It was the memory of her father’s eyes when she was taken. The anguish. The helplessness. And Kaelor…
The betrayal in his gaze haunted her more than anything. The way he’d looked at her when she rejected their bond before the council. The devastation. The fury.
She’d felt his heartbreak echo through her wolf. Felt the sharp, brutal agony of tearing their souls apart. And Vaeren had just stood there, watching it unfold like it was a spectacle crafted for his amusement.
Her chest heaved, tears burning in her throat. She couldn’t stay here. She wouldn’t. Xyra wiped her face, her breath hitching. She had to find a way out. Even if it killed her. Because if she stayed in Vyrmora any longer...The bond wouldn’t be the only thing that broke her.
- Writer
