KAELITH
The war room was quiet but not peaceful. The fire had burned low and the table was a mess of scrolls, maps and reports no one wanted to touch. Delays. Disappearances. Disobedience. Every document pointed to the same truth: cracks were forming in the kingdom. And I hated cracks.
I tried to focus. But my thoughts kept dragging me somewhere else.
Aurelia.
Her presence clung to me like smoke. The softness of her skin, the way she gasped my name, the mark that now lived on her back. I kept telling myself I took her because I could. Because she was mine to claim. But something about her felt like a pivot point - like the second I touched her, everything shifted.
The memory was still fresh — her breathless cries, the way she writhed beneath me, and the way her body arched when I sank my teeth into her neck. I hadn't meant to bite so hard, but something about the moment shattered my restraint. The mark I left was deep and crimson, my claim pressed into her skin like a vow I hadn't spoken aloud.
A knock pulled me out of the haze.
"Enter."
Cassian stepped in, expression flat but eyes sharp. His cloak brushed the floor like always, silent and steady.
He didn't waste time. "The southern watch sent up a flare last night. We haven't heard anything since."
"Movement?"
"Forest line. No details. The scouts who saw it haven't returned."
"Send another unit. Quietly. I don't want the council jumping in on rumors."
He nodded but didn't leave.
"What else?"
Cassian's jaw tightened. "The staff is talking about the girl."
Of course they were.
"They're saying she's marked," he continued. "That you haven't touched anyone in years and now she shows up and everything's... different."
I stared at the floor, then back at him. "Let them talk."
"They're digging through prophecy scrolls."
My hands curled into fists. "That old story again?"
"Some think it matters."
"I said—"
Cassian cut in, calm as ever. "I know what you said. But they're afraid. And when people are afraid, they start believing things."
I didn't answer. Just waved him off.
He left like he came — quiet and unreadable.
I stood up and left the room, unsure where I was going until I was already halfway to her chambers. I didn't knock when I reached her door. Just stood there.
Why couldn't I stay away?
Why did her presence cling to me like something I couldn't scrub off — something I didn't want to?
And why, when I thought about that glowing mark on her back, did I feel like I was caught in something much older than either of us?
I didn't wait for answers.
I turned and walked away.
**************
Two maids leaned close in the shadows near the stairwell.
"Did you hear?" one whispered. "The girl. Her sheets were scorched."
"They say her back lit up," the other replied. "Like fire beneath her skin."
"That mark... they say when it reappears, something dark follows."
"Do you believe that?"
"I don't know. But the prince hasn't looked at anyone like that in before."
Footsteps approached and they fell silent.
Cassian passed without a glance. He didn't say a word. But he heard every one.