The Mark of the Curse
213 Words
The conversation shifted. Kael asked her questions—about Eldoria, about her upbringing, about her dreams.
She answered carefully, but he saw too much.
And then, as the fire crackled low in the hearth, he reached for her wrist.
She flinched.
His touch was warm. Too warm.
Kael’s eyes flickered. "Strange."
Seraphina frowned. "What is?"
His thumb brushed over her skin, and suddenly—
A sharp, searing heat bloomed beneath her flesh.
Seraphina gasped, jerking her hand away.
She looked down.
A mark had appeared on her wrist.
A symbol—etched in silver and black—glowing faintly before it faded into her skin.
Her heart pounded wildly. "What did you do?"
Kael’s face had gone still. Too still.
"It wasn’t me," he said softly.
Seraphina’s breath quickened. "Then what—"
He lifted his gaze, and for the first time that night, there was something in his expression that unsettled her far more than his silence ever had.
Surprise.
Shock.
And something dangerously close to fear.
Kael exhaled, his fingers tightening into a fist.
"The curse," he murmured. "It has chosen you."
Seraphina’s blood ran cold.
She had come here to be a bride.
But it seemed she had become something far more dangerous.
Something the shadows would never let go.
- Writer
