روايات بقلم Zainab Ajayi

RAVENA few minutes after Mirabel left the room through the passage again, dinner was brought up by a servant who wouldn't even meet my eyes. Denis had stood beside him and made sure the man tasted the food first. He then waited for a few minutes, eyeing the servant as if expecting him to collapse.I couldn't blame him for being so cautious. After the way my father had looked at me, I wouldn’t have put it past them to try something. After all, Eilis might hold him accountable if anything happened to me."It’s clear," Denis had said, his voice flat as he gestured for the servant to leave. Once the door clicked shut, he turned to me. "Eat. I'll be right next door. If you hear so much as a floorboard creak that shouldn't, you shout. Understood?”I rolled my eyes but nodded. After I finished, I sat by the window until the moon climbed high enough to turn the gardens into silver. I climbed into the massive bed, pulling the velvet covers up to my chin. I tried to close my eyes, but the d

RAVEN“Help me open it,” Mirabel whispered, her voice tight as she tried to pry open the box.“What has this got to do with my mother?” I asked, not moving to help. Mirabel let out a huff of frustration, her fingers slipping against the lid. She looked up at me, her eyes reflecting the flickering light. “Everything, Raven,” she hissed, finally finding a notch in the side of the box. “You think Father is going to keep a useless old box in a place like this for no reason?”I felt a cold prickle at the back of my neck. I stepped forward, my slippers silent, and placed my hands over hers. The wood felt unnaturally cold, as if it had been stored in ice. With a sharp tug, the lock—already weakened by time—gave way with a dry snap.Mirabel opened the lid, and a gasp escaped her. Resting inside was a single, heavy pendant on a thick silver chain. The metal was dark, almost black, shaped into the likeness of a wolf’s head, but its eyes were two piercing emeralds that seemed to glow in the dim

Mirabel turned the brush over in her hand, her thumb tracing the wolf-head engraving. "Homage," she repeated, her voice gentle. "Is that what they call it now? Sending the puppy back to the kennel to remind the breeder who owns it?" "It’s a tradition," I insisted, though the word felt brittle in my mouth. "The Prince wanted to honor my family." "Father doesn’t deserve honor, and we both know the Prince didn't send you here to be kind. He sent you with an attendant who looks like he’s ready to slit a throat for breathing too loud." She set the brush down with a soft clack. "You’re hiding, Raven. You’ve always been a terrible liar, now the question is why?” I shifted in the chair. "I’m not hiding.” "Is that why you're in Danica's room?" Mirabel stepped closer. "Father is terrified. He’s displaced his favorite daughter for you, and he’s keeping me in the passages like a shameful secret. He’s betting everything on the hope that you can keep playing the bride as long as it takes." “W

My father began to lead the way, we reached the base of the grand staircase.Danica walked ahead of us, her footsteps sharp and frantic. When we reached the end of the hall, she stopped before the double doors of her own suite. She turned to look at me, and for a second, the mask of the "dutiful sister" slipped. Her eyes were red-rimmed and burning with hatred so pure it made me flinch. She had been displaced from her sanctuary for the sibling she despised.Danica’s jaw trembled. She looked like she wanted to scream, to point at me and roar the truth to the rafters, but she looked at Denis—who was currently leaning against the wall—and she swallowed her rage. She turned and vanished into the shadows of the servant’s stairwell without a word."Enter," my father said, gesturing to the room.The suite was beautiful, filled with heavy velvet drapes and polished mahogany, but it felt cold, just like Danica. Denis walked in first. He moved through the space like a predator checking a ne

The carriage jolted as we hit a deep rut in the road. Outside, the landscape shifted from the dense, pine-scented forests of the wolf kingdom to the flat, manicured greenery of the human territories. I leaned my head against the glass. The closer we got to my father’s estate, the more the dread tightened in my stomach. It wasn't just my father’s cruelty I was worried about. I looked down at my lap, smoothing the fabric of my clothes. At the palace, I was protected. Here, I would be under the eyes of people who had known me my whole life. The ruse was getting harder to maintain every day. Did Denis know? Or should I be scared that my father or siblings might blurt out the truth? "You're thinking too loud, Raven." I jumped. Denis was sitting across from me, arms crossed. "I'm just worried about the arrival," I said, my voice thin. "My father... he's not an easy man." "It’s more than that." Denis looked at me, his pale gold eyes steady. "If you're worried about him, don't be. I k

Aria’s warnings about being the easiest target had been haunting enough, but the sting of Eilis actually trying to send me away back to my family felt like a second betrayal. I paced the small patch of rug that wasn't occupied by the princes, my eyes hot with unshed tears. Eilis stood by the window, his back to me, looking out at the kingdom he was so desperate to protect me from. “You think you’re being noble,” I said, my voice trembling. “You think you’re saving me by throwing me back to the people who sold me to you in the first place.” “Raven, it’s not about nobility,” he rasped, still not turning around. “It’s about survival. If the Council moves against me, they won't go for my throat first. They’ll go for yours. They’ll use you to make me crawl.” “Then let them try!” I shouted. Osric let out a sharp huff from the corner, his head popping up at my volume. Eilis finally turned, and for a moment, the Logical Prince was gone. There was only a man who looked like he was mou