Chapter Nine - Loomed
LIORA
The palace corridor was quiet at this hour, the flickering torches casting restless shadows on the stone walls. I walked with purpose but couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.
''You walk these halls like a caged thing.'' Cassius's voice drifted from behind and then continued, ''As if you believe you can escape them.'' I stopped but didn't turn. ''And follow me like a man who has nothing better to do.'' I said
Cassius chuckled, a low, indulgent sound. ''Interesting,'' he moved to my side, walking with me, his hand clasped behind his back. ''But no, I simply find you fascinating, especially in regards to my dear brother.''
I sniffed at the mention of Kieran; Cassius noticed, ''You resent him,'' he mused, tilting his head slightly as he studied. ''You see only the cold, unreadable mask he wears. The warrior. The beast," he said, then I kept my expression blank.
''And you're here to tell me there's something else.'' I said, Cassius smirked, ''You think you know what kind of man Kieran is, don't you?'' I said nothing.
''Let me guess,'' he continued, ''You see him as cruel. Detached. A prince with no care for the wife forced upon him. You think his silence is indifference," he said. "I was also forced." I said, not meeting his gaze.
''No, you didn't. I'm not saying you accepted it willingly, but I think you did it just to leave.'' I kept quiet; he was right in a way. His jaw tightened. ''Isn't it?''
Cassius exhaled, shaking his head. ''Kieran is not indifferent, Liora. He is a man who has learned that caring too deeply is a weakness and that would cost him a lot.''
I frowned, caught off guard by his tone. There was no mockery in it. No amusement, just certainty. “He left you alone on your wedding night, didn't he?” I turned my face away, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of my reaction.
Cassius continued, softer now, ''He did not do that because he despises you. He did it because he fears what you would think about him and how you would make him feel. Kieran is just acting according to what people say he is; that's why he's like that.''
I looked at him then, searching his expression for a lie. But I found none.
“He is a warrior first, a prince second. And a man... last of all.'' Cassius's smirk returned, but it was smaller this time. ''Perhaps you should ask yourself why that is.''
I swallowed, the weight of his words pressing something I wasn't ready to confront.
''That color suits you.'' Now his amusing face was back. He just wants to defend his brother a little and then flirt, but I just play along. “I didn't think you were the type to offer compliments.''
Cassius smirked, his gaze trailing over my attire with slow and deliberate appreciation. ''Only when they are deserved.''
Cassius exhaled through his nose, something almost amused in his expression: ''You're not what I expected.'' I lifted a brow. ''And what exactly did you expect?'' His smirk deepened.
''Someone fragile. But you... you endure.” I didn't know how to respond to that. Then, Cassius took another step forward, tilting his head slightly, and then I stopped. ''Come with me tomorrow.'' I frowned, ''What?''
''A ride through the city''
''I'm not going into the city.'' I took a step forward, then he came to me from the front, and then I stopped. ''I know you're scared of the people's eye and… gossip,'' he said, and that's exactly what I'm avoiding.
''Come on, it won't be in the city then. Somewhere else it's a surprise; you've been kept locked in this palace like a relic no one knows what to do with. It's time the world beyond these walls''
I hesitated, searching for the trick, the hidden motive behind the offer. ''And why would you want that?''
''Because, you are now a princess, you are fascinating.'' I met his gaze, then he smirked, ''I know, I know, married. But just for a while.”
The words hung in the air between us. I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to remain unmoved. ''Fine,'' I finally agreed. Cassius chuckled, stepping back. ''I'll have the horses ready at dawn.''
He gave one last glance before, as if satisfied with the seed he had planted: ''Good night, Liora.'' And he was gone, leaving me standing in the empty corridor, my thoughts far less empty than before and the thunder rumbling outside.
I hesitated before the room door, my fingers reaching for the handle. A strange unease slithered through me, coiling in the pit of my stomach. The air felt thick, charged, as if the very walls of the chamber were pressing on me. Something was wrong.
The moment I pulled the door open, the world shifted.
I was no longer in the palace corridor; instead, a forest loomed before me, its trees towering like silent sentinels in the storm. Rain poured from the sky in relentless sheets, cold and unforgiving, soaking my gown in seconds.
I grasped, stumbling back, but there was no door behind me now, only endless trees stretching into the darkness. ''What... What's happening? This isn't real.'' I whispered, my heart pounding against my rib. My breath came in ragged bursts, misting in the cold air.
My skin prickled as the sensation of being watched crept over me ''Liora.…'' It came again, that voice, whispering soft and insidious, weaving through the rain like a thread of shadow. It sent a sharp jolt of fear through my veins.
''What do you want from me?'' I screamed, but the storm swallowed my voice. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the forest in a stark, ghostly glow. And that was when I saw glowing eyes in the darkness.
A wolf. Massive. Its fur, dark as midnight, clung to its muscled frame, slick from the rain.
The wolf stood between the trees, his piercing eyes locked onto me, but there was no warmth, only raw, untamed fury.
He moved. Fast
I barely had time to react before the beast lunged, tearing through the rain-drenched earth in a blur of muscle and shadow. Panic seized my limbs as I spun on my heel, stumbling through the forest. My heartbeat thundered, drowning out the storm, my gown clinging to my legs as I ran.
''Liora…'' that voice again, ''Nooo.. '' I cried out as I ran for my dear life; I didn't dare look back.
Branches whipped against my arms as I pushed forward, my soaked dress dragging me down. Behind me I could hear his heavy paws pounding against the ground, closing in.
Then I felt the sharp pain; searing agony erupted at the back of my left shoulder. I screamed, my vision fracturing as fire licked through my veins. I collapsed, my body trembling as I clutched at the mark; I couldn't see it but felt it, the Helix Mark.
I grasped, my nails digging into the damp earth; my body betrayed me. I wanted to run, but the pain was unlike anything I'd ever known.
He was there; he loomed over me, his breath hot against the freezing rain, harsh, erratic.