Chapter Five: Claimed in Shadows
I dreamt of her again.
The woman in the portrait.
She stood beneath a black sun, blood trickling down her lips, arms outstretched as shadows wrapped around her ankles and dragged her toward a throne of bone. She screamed not in fear but defiance.
And then… her voice became mine.
"You will not take him from me."
I woke gasping, sweat slicking my skin.
My nightgown was torn.
And bruises faint but real marked my wrists.
I pressed trembling fingers against them.
Dreams don't leave bruises.
When I stepped into the throne room later that day, the air was thick with tension.
A stranger stood before Kaelith.
She was beautiful in a cruel, crystalline way tall, with pale blue skin and eyes like cracked ice. Her silver gown shimmered with tiny thorns, and when she turned to look at me, her smile could have frozen rivers.
"You must be the mortal," she said, voice sweet as poison.
I said nothing.
"I am Lady Vesra. He and I were once promised."
Kaelith remained seated, fingers steepled beneath his chin, his expression carved in stone.
"But you were never claimed," he said without looking at her.
A flicker of fury passed over her face.
"I come to contest this... arrangement," she said. "You chose a girl with no title. No magic. No legacy. The court whispers. The realms watch. You cannot truly mean to take her."
"She's under my protection," Kaelith said, voice cool.
"That's not the same as taking her as your bride." Vesra turned to me. "Perhaps you don't realize what he is, girl. What marrying him means. The curse is not just legend. It devours. It will swallow you whole."
I lifted my chin. "Then let it try."
Gasps echoed around the room.
Kaelith rose slowly.
And the world seemed to hold its breath.
He crossed the marble floor like a storm given form. Everyone stepped back. Everyone… but me.
He stopped in front of me.
Dark. Towering. Possessed.
And then
His hand slid around my waist.
Pulling me into him.
One hand went to the base of my skull, threading into my hair.
"Mine," he growled low into my ear. Loud enough for everyone to hear. "Mine to curse. Mine to break. Mine to keep."
I couldn't breathe.
The heat of him. The shadows curling around our feet. The thrum in my blood that sang like it had always been waiting for this moment.
He lowered his head slowly, eyes locked on mine.
But this time… he didn't stop.
His lips brushed mine soft, slow, devastating.
Possession disguised as a kiss.
A promise and a punishment all in one.
When he pulled back, I was shaking.
Vesra stared, lips parted, fury in her eyes.
Kaelith didn't look at her.
He kept his gaze on me.
"Now they'll stop whispering," he said.
And I didn't know whether to be terrified or thrilled.
Because I had seen the truth in his eyes.
He wasn't protecting me.
He was claiming me.