THE ALPHA KING'S BEAUTIFUL MATE BOOK ONE OF THE FLAMEBONDED SERIES.

CHAPTER FIVE: DARETH'S OAT

The royal infirmary smelled of lavender, sage, and blood.

Liora wrinkled her nose as she stepped through the arched doorway, following the gentle glow of runes etched into the stone walls. Dareth moved ahead of her, a long strip of linen looped around his neck and an herb satchel slung across his shoulder.

“I didn’t think you worked this deep in the palace,” she said.

Dareth glanced back. “Most of what I do, you’re not supposed to see.”

She hesitated. “You mean healing?”

“No,” he said, tone more serious than she’d ever heard it. “Secrets.”

The infirmary was empty except for a single occupied cot at the far end. A boy no older than sixteen lay unmoving, wrapped in silver-weaved bandages.

“His name’s Taro,” Dareth said softly. “One of the wildblood scouts. He was part of the search party that went missing last moon.”

“What happened to him?”

“We don’t know.” Dareth’s fingers brushed a glyph at the boy’s temple. “He came back alone. And he hasn’t woken up since.”

Liora frowned. “That’s... strange.”

“That’s palace life,” he muttered.

She turned to him. “Why are you showing me this?”

Dareth straightened. “Because when you stepped into Kaelen’s bond, you didn’t just inherit a title. You stepped into this. The cracks beneath the crown. The silence no one wants to look at.”

She sat quietly beside the cot, watching the slow rise and fall of the boy’s chest. “Does Kaelen know?”

Dareth hesitated. “He suspects. But the court has other concerns. They always do. There’s always another border to defend, another traitor to interrogate.”

“And you?” she asked.

His smile was tired. “I heal. I investigate. And sometimes, I pray to gods I don’t believe in that we’re not already too late.”

Liora felt something shift in her.

This wasn’t about power.

This was about people.

The broken ones. The forgotten ones. The ones who bled in silence so the wolves could howl without fear.

Dareth placed his hand over Taro’s heart and whispered a blessing. Runes shimmered in the boy’s skin, not healing but holding.

“He’ll live,” he said. “But he won’t return unless something calls him back.”

Liora stood. “Then maybe it’s time we find out what’s calling him away.”

Dareth looked at her, surprised. Then he bowed.

Not like a servant to a queen.

But like one warrior to another.

And from that moment on, Liora knew she would never see him as just a healer again.

He was her first ally.

And she would need him more than she knew.