Chapter 4

Kaela's POV

I was standing in the middle of a festival clutching a stick of candied fruit, sticky and warm in my palm.

Laughter and music filled the air, the scent of roasted chestnuts and honeywell bread mingling with the crisp evening breeze. It was the MoonLight festival, my favourite of all annual festivities.

I could feel mom's hand in mine and dad walking right beside me. Everything was going well until the sky bled red.

A horrifying roar cracked through the heavens so loud I feared it would divide the very sky. Shadows rippled across the ground as something vast and monstrous whoosed past us.

I screamed while other people cried out in fear around me.

In the blink of an eye, flames rained down from the sky, swallowing the festival in a giant ball of inferno. Stalls burst into flame as the sellers ran for their lives, their fearful wails turning into choked cries until they became completely silent.

Smoke clawed at my throat and I coughed violently. I swiped at the empty air with my left hand and turned, searching in panic — where were they? Where were my parents?!

Oh no!

“Mommy!” I screamed in alarm but it sounded more like a whisper amidst the noisy chaos surrounding me. “Daddy!”

I spun in circles, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst through my ribs.

And then~

“Kaela!” The voice cut through the overwhelming destruction and devastation. It was a woman's voice. Mom.

“Mommy!” I stumbled forward, my hands searching desperately through the thick suffocating smoke.

“Kaela!” She called again.

“Mom!”

I was running now but stopped dead in my tracks when from the flames emerged a shifted, monstrous Lycan. Its deadly jaws opened and it grabbed mom.

My eyes widened in fear and I let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Kaela!” Warm hands shook my shoulders and I threw my eyes open, gasping, shaking and drenched in sweat.

“It's okay.” The Lycan king murmured worriedly, while wrapping his strong muscled arms around me. “Thank the goddess that you're okay now.”

My body trembled uncontrollably as he palmed soft circles on my back.

“You're safe now, Kaela,” Rhaedros repeated as I froze upon realizing who held me close.

Safe? I wasn't safe! I couldn't be. Not when the nightmare still clung to me like my own shadow. And reality now haunted me because of a choice I could not turn down.

Tears burned my eyes and they slipped down my cheek. I tried to pull away from him but he didn't let me go.

“Take it easy, Kae.” He whispered, kissing my forehead as he hoarsely mumbled.

“Rhaedros…” I whispered between tears.

“Don’t worry, I've got you,” his majesty assured me as he pulled me tightly against him.

I didn't fight him any longer. I was too tired, too shaken and too afraid. I let myself drown in his warmth. I let myself cling to a new present that didn't include fire and death. Or so I hoped…

Yet within the next moment, darkness swallowed me again.

When I woke up the second time, the scent of burning was gone and was replaced by something softer — clean sheets, flowers, and fresh air.

I sat up, my limbs heavy with exhaustion and my thoughts in utter confusion.

That’s when I saw a slightly familiar girl sitting next to me. I stared back at her, stiffening at her presence.

I blinked at her. “Who… are you?”

“My name is Lyra.” the dark-eyed lass answered, keeping her head partially lowered in a bow. “I am your personal maid, your Highness.”

The girl was young, probably my age or a year older. Though she said she was my maid, she was definitely prettier than most maids I’ve met back in the palace where I came from. Leila had porcelain skin and eyes that were black as midnight. Her ginger hair was short and curled above the shoulder pads of her pristine uniform.

I blinked again when I recalled her words. “Wait… you said personal maid… . Who decided that?”

“His Majesty did.”

I inhaled sharply. “Rhaedros.”

His name still felt foreign on my tongue, like something I wasn't supposed to say out loud. I glanced around, realizing this room was far too lavish, far too grand to be mine.

“Where is he?” I asked.

Leila hesitated. “His Majesty is in a very important meeting, my Lady.”

“Then take me to him.”

She stiffened. “My lady, the meeting cannot be interrupted~”

“I don't care!” I swung my legs over the bed, rising to my feet, showing her I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Take me to him.”

Sensing the firmness in my tone, Leila relented in an instant.

We had barely made it down the long corridor when I collided into someone or rather, someone collided into me.

I stumbled back, looking up at the woman I had run into.

She was tall, elegant. Curly silver hair cascaded down her back, her piercing slitted eyes narrowing with disdain.

She sized me up and down with a sickened stare. “So, you're the girl.”

I blinked, confused. “What girl?”

The woman's curvy lips curled in derision. “The weakling who fainted during the ceremony.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. I wanted to challenge her to try it herself but decided to hold my tongue.

“You embarrassed the multitudes,” The rude female continued with the same repulsive grimace on her face. “You couldn't even handle a simple Ever binding spell. Pathetic!”

Anger flared in my veins and I curled both my hands. “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize collapsing from excruciating pain was a crime in your kingdom.”

“Mind your tongue, girl,” the haughty lady hissed in annoyance. “You're in our world now. You should be grateful you're even alive.”

“Grateful?” I scoffed. “For what? For being insulted by some woman I don't even know?”

The said woman’s expression darkened and it seemed like I had poured hot water on her face. “You don't know who I am?”

I scoffed. “Umm… should I?”

This well-dressed hussy was definitely irritating the hell out of me! And I already wanted to get out of her face but she remained where she stood, barring our way.

She let out a slow, bone-chilling laugh. “Well, then. Just know that you have just made yourself a very dangerous enemy.”

I didn't care. “Then I guess, I'm making a lot of them already,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug as I turned and walked away before she could say anything else.

Once we were safely out of earshot, Lyra grabbed my arm, looking mortified. I turned to her with an inquiring look. ​

“My lady… that was Lady Xerathia.”

I curiously stared back at her. Xerathia? Who the heck was that?

“My lady, you just insulted Lady Xerathia, His Majesty's sister-in-law and one of the most powerful figures in the entire kingdom.”

A nervous laugh bubbled up from my throat. “You're joking, right?”