Blood on Silk Sheets

The intruder’s words hung in the air like poison as he lunged toward me, blade raised high.

Darius roared and slammed into him from the side, their bodies crashing against the heavy wooden table. Wine glasses shattered across the floor. The hooded man swung wildly, his knife slicing through the air inches from Darius’s throat.

I pressed myself against the bedpost, my hands shaking so badly I could barely grip the wood. “Darius!”

“Stay back!” he snarled, dodging another strike and driving his own dagger upward into the man’s shoulder.

The intruder grunted in pain but didn’t fall. He twisted free and kicked Darius hard in the chest, sending him stumbling into the chair by the fire. 

The hooded figure turned to me again, breathing heavy under the mask. “Your mother sent me. She’s in the old tower. They’re coming for her tonight because of this marriage. You have to...”

Darius was on him before he could finish. He grabbed the man by the hood and slammed his head against the wall with a sickening thud. The intruder slumped, but not before his knife grazed Darius’s arm, drawing a thin line of blood.

I rushed forward without thinking, grabbing Darius’s sleeve. “You’re hurt.”

He shook me off roughly, chest heaving. “It’s nothing.” His eyes never left the fallen man. He knelt, ripped the hood back, and revealed a face I didn’t recognize, pale, scarred, with wide terrified eyes.

“Who sent you?” Darius demanded, pressing the dagger to the man’s throat.

The intruder coughed, blood trickling from his lip. “The Voss queen… your mother, princess. She said the roses are wilting. That you’d understand. She begged me to warn you before your father’s men reached her.”

Mother. The only person who ever held me when I cried as a child. The one who whispered stories to me through the locked door of my room. “Is she alive?”

“For now,” the man rasped. “But the Emperor’s spies move fast. Your father made a side deal. If this alliance looks weak, he’ll sacrifice her to prove loyalty.”

Darius’s face darkened. He pressed the blade harder. “Lies. My father wouldn’t risk the alliance so soon.”

The man laughed weakly, bubbles of blood forming at his mouth. “You really are the devil’s son if you still believe that. The Emperor wants proof tonight. Real proof. If you don’t give it, he’ll take her himself and blame you.”

I dropped to my knees beside them, my white gown soaking up the spilled wine and blood. “Please. Tell me exactly what she said.”

The intruder’s eyes met mine, softening for a second. “She said… you were never cursed. That was your father’s story to make you disposable. She wants you to survive this palace. Even if it means…”

He coughed again, harder this time. Blood sprayed across my hands.

Darius yanked him up by the collar. “Even if it means what?”

The man’s voice grew faint. “Even if it means leaving you behind, princess. She knows what this family does to outsiders.”

Before I could beg for more, the intruder’s body jerked. His eyes rolled back. A thin trickle of foam appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Darius released him with a curse. The man collapsed fully, twitching once, twice, then going still.

Poison.

I stared at the blood on my hands, at the dead stranger who had risked everything to reach me.

Darius stood slowly, wiping his dagger on the man’s cloak. His own arm was still bleeding, a red stain spreading down his sleeve. “He was telling the truth about one thing. They watch everything.”

I looked up at him, my voice breaking. “My mother… if they take her because of me..."

“She won’t be taken tonight,” he cut in sharply. He crossed to the balcony doors, now splintered and hanging crooked, and peered out into the darkness. “Not if I move first.”

I pushed myself up on shaky legs. “What do you mean?”

He turned back to me. The firelight made the blood on his arm glisten. “I’ll send my own men to the border tower. Quietly. If your mother is truly in danger, they’ll bring her here under my protection.”

Hope flickered in my chest, fragile and dangerous. “You would do that? For me?”

He stepped closer, towering over me. His free hand came up and wiped a smear of blood from my cheek with his thumb. The touch was surprisingly gentle, but his eyes stayed hard. “This marriage binds us now, Elara. Your enemies are mine. For as long as it serves us both.”

I searched his face. “And after?”

“After is tomorrow’s problem.” He glanced at the dead man on the floor. “First we deal with this mess. The Emperor can’t know an assassin reached our chamber on our wedding night. It makes us look weak.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “What do we do with him?”

Darius moved fast. He dragged the body toward the balcony, muscles straining under his open tunic. “Over the edge. The river below will take care of the rest. No questions.”

I helped him without being asked, grabbing the man’s legs even though my stomach turned at the weight and the warmth still leaving his body. Together we lifted him over the broken railing. The night wind whipped my hair as the body disappeared into the darkness below. A distant splash echoed up moments later.

We stepped back inside. Darius closed what was left of the doors as best he could, then turned to face me. Blood streaked his arm and chest now. Mine too.

“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.

“I’m not,” I lied, but my teeth chattered anyway.

He sighed and grabbed a clean cloth from the washstand. He wet it and pressed it to my hands first, wiping away the stranger’s blood with careful strokes. “This palace eats the weak, Elara. Tonight was only the beginning.”

I watched his face as he worked. The scars on his chest rose and fell with each breath. “Why do you help me? You could have let him speak and then killed me too if it suited you.”

His hands paused on mine. “Because I’ve spent my life being the monster they all fear, and I’m tired of proving them right.” He met my eyes directly. “I also do see something in you that reminds me of myself. Locked away. Blamed for things you didn’t choose.”

The cloth moved to my cheek again, gentler this time. Our faces were close now. Too close. I could feel his hot breath on my face.

A knock sounded at the main door, sharp, urgent.

Darius tensed. He dropped the cloth and picked up his dagger again. “Who is it?”

A female voice answered from the other side, smooth and sweet like honey. “It’s Lady Seraphina, dear brother. Father sent me to check on the happy couple. He wants to make sure the night is… productive.”

Darius cursed under his breath. He looked at me, voice low. “My half-sister. She’s worse than Ronan in some ways. Say nothing about the intruder.”

I nodded quickly and tried to smooth my blood-stained gown.

Darius opened the door just enough.

Seraphina swept in without waiting, her emerald gown shimmering, dark curls pinned with jewels. She was beautiful, high cheekbones, red lips and a smile that didn’t reach her cold blue eyes. I think smiling is a common thing between this family.

“Oh my,” she purred, taking in the broken balcony doors, the blood on the floor, the mess. “What happened here? It looks like someone had a very passionate wedding night already.”

Darius blocked her view of the worst stains. “A minor accident with the doors. The wind is strong tonight.”

Seraphina’s gaze slid to me, lingering on the blood on my hands and cheek. “And you, little sister? You look positively wrecked. Did my brother finally show his true devilish nature?”

I forced my voice steady. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

She laughed softly, circling us like a cat. “How delightful. Father will be pleased to hear the alliance is being sealed so enthusiastically.” Her eyes flicked to Darius’s bleeding arm. “Though you both seem a bit… marked.”

Darius stepped forward, voice dropping to a dangerous tone. “Tell Father the marriage is proceeding as required. Now leave.”

Seraphina pouted dramatically but backed toward the door. “As you wish. But do be careful, both of you. Accidents happen so easily in this palace. Especially to new brides who ask too many questions.”

She gave me one last smile, sweet, deadly, and slipped out, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

The moment she was gone, Darius turned to me. His face was grim. “She saw too much. By morning the whole family will know something happened here.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, the blood on my gown cooling and sticking to my skin. “What now?”

He moved closer again, his presence filling the room. “Now we clean this up and give them the proof they want. A little blood. A story. But after tonight…” His hand brushed my arm, sending an unwanted shiver through me. “We start fighting back. Together.”

Before I could answer, another sound cut through the silence, footsteps in the corridor outside, heavier this time, accompanied by the clank of armor.

Darius’s eyes met mine.

“The guards are coming. They must have heard the fight.”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the bed, his grip firm but not painful. “Lie down. Make it look real. Whatever happens next, follow my lead and don’t speak unless I tell you to.”

My heart raced as I climbed onto the silk sheets, the fabric cold against my stained gown.

Darius blew out most of the candles, leaving only the firelight. He joined me on the bed, positioning his body over mine just as the door burst open without a knock.

Two armed guards stood there, swords drawn, with Seraphina smiling behind them.

“What is the meaning of this?” Darius demanded, his voice laced with fury as he shielded me from their view.

One guard stepped forward. “Orders from the Emperor, my prince. We heard disturbance. We must verify the consummation… personally.”

Seraphina’s smile widened in the doorway. “For the alliance, of course. Purely for proof.”

Darius’s body tensed above me, his blood still dripping onto the sheets between us.

I stared up at him, fear and something darker twisting in my chest as the guards moved closer.