Princesses are always warned to fear monsters in the dark but nobody warned her that the real monster would be the one fate forced her to love.
Princess Aveline never believed in destiny or fairytales. Not when kingdoms lied to survive, even under a king so greedy. Not when fathers sold daughters for gold masked as "alliances."
She hadn't slept properly for days. Her father starving the farmers in the name of taxes weighed on her mind. The palace walls felt too tight, especially tonight. She slipped out quietly toward the garden for air, bare feet brushing over the cold stone pathway in her flowing regalia.
Her steps halted. A figure lay in the moonlight. There, a man laid unconscious.Aveline's breath seized.She moved closer, heart trembling with each silent step.
His face was partly covered by a dark carved mask, elegant and strange, yet enough was visible to know he was breathtaking. Not a wanderer. His regalia was unlike anything common: embroidery, steel-thread, and a crest unknown. A noble. Perhaps a king from a faraway kingdom
"Leora," Aveline whispered.
Her maid emerged from the shadows, ever vigilant. If anything happened to Aveline, the king would cut off every maid's head.
Leora froze at the sight of the man.
"My Lady, we shouldn't be near this."
"He's alive," Aveline said softly. "We can't leave him."
Together, they lifted him, trembling under his weight. Fear prickled Aveline's heart but she did not stop. The palace guards could never see this. She didn't know why. She only knew she had to hide him.Through a secret door, they brought him into her room. Aveline lowered him gently onto her bed, breath shaky as if being chased.
She at first wanted to see the face behind the mask but she realised she needed help first. A real physician. Someone discreet who wouldn't spilled the tea anytime soon.
"Stay here," she instructed Leora. "Don't let anyone in. I'll fetch a doctor from the east wing."
Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridors, each one longer than the last. She walked fast enough to appear restless, slow enough to avoid attention.
Minutes later, she returned with the physician.But the bed was empty.Her eyes scanned the room. No trace of struggle. No open window. He was simply gone.
"Leora!" she shouted.
"Yes, my lady," the maid stammered, trembling. Her eyes darted from Aveline to the empty bed.
Aveline froze, her blood chilling in the cauldron of her heart. The doctor frowned, confused. Leora's lips moved, caged by silence.
She stared at the sheets he had been on seconds ago. She didn't know his name. She didn't know where he came from. She didn't know how he disappeared.Her throat tightened.
"What are you?" she whispered into the empty night.
Far beyond the garden walls, in a realm entirely different, a half-wolf king opened burning golden eyes, gasping for breath. The woman destined to destroy him had found him first.
"Your Majesty!" his guard cried, catching him just before his body hit the ground.
"You shouldn't have crossed over tonight," he said, voice shaking. "Your Majesty… you barely have strength left."
Blood filled Maeric's mouth before words could form. His knees gave out. The guard held him tighter, panic threading his voice.
"Your Majesty… stay with me!"
Maeric's eyes dimmed,his lashes heavy. His breath hitched once as something inside him seemed to fractured. Then he collapsed fully against the guard's chest, unconscious.
When he awoke, a cold cloth pressed his forehead. The royal physician hovered, hands glowing faintly with a muted silver aura.
"Your Majesty," the physician exhaled in relief, though his eyes offered no comfort. "You shouldn't have crossed the boundary tonight." Maeric tried to rise, but the physician's hand was firm on his shoulder.
"Don't. The Umbral Bind is reacting again. It's worse this time."
Maeric's jaw tightened. The Bind. The magic slowly killing him was tied to the Silverbane. It would not relent until it was returned to Lunareth.
"It activated because I'm running out of time," he said quietly.
"No," the physician shook his head. "It activated because the curse knows you crossed worlds. Every time you force the boundary, the Bind grows stronger. It devours the human half left inside you."
Maeric stared at the ceiling, silent. At night, he barely held form, barely contained the shift, barely remembered human restraint.
"How long before I lose control completely?" he asked.
The physician swallowed. "…One full moon." And silence fell. The room felt like a tomb. Maeric closed his eyes. He had crossed over tonight searching for a lead and ended up collapsing in the garden of a human princess he was never meant to meet.The physician spoke again, quieter, almost pleading.
"Your Majesty… if you keep going alone… the curse will devour you before the humans even realize a king stood among them."
Maeric said nothing.But in his mind, Aveline's voice echoed faintly. The whisper of panic when she had found him on the garden grass. He realized it wasn't just his kingdom bleeding time anymore.
And somewhere, just beyond the veil between worlds, a shadow moved with deliberate purpose. It had been watching, waiting, and it knew exactly where Maeric was vulnerable.
By dawn, someone or something would strike.And neither Aveline nor Maeric had any idea how close the danger already was.