Chapter Six

Kelsey’s POV

The double doors of the Council Hall slammed shut behind me, but they didn't do a single thing to drown out the noise inside.

The entire room behind me was erupting into chaos. I could hear lords screaming at the top of their lungs, wooden chairs scraping violently against the stone floor, and one old elder literally sobbing about the incoming end of the kingdom.

Two stone-faced guards flanked my sides, their boots thudding against the floor in perfect sync as they marched me down the hallway.

My brain was completely stuck on the word surrogate. What the actual hell did that even mean in this context?

I squeezed my hands into tight fists at my sides, my heart pounding so hard against my ribs I was sure the guards could hear it. I was trying my best to keep my face flat, but my stomach was tied in tight, painful knots.

I was terrified to death and I wouldn't even blame myself. Barely 5 hours ago, I'd been making plans on how toa spend my day with Maya. Who would've thought that I'd end up here. Of all places. And it wasn't helping that I seemed to be making things worse? From my blood breaking three ancient crystals, to now being dragged off into the deep belly of this scary stone fortress.

We walked down corridors that seemed to stretch on forever, passing several servants along the way. Every single one of them stopped instantly, backing against the wall and dropping straight to their knees as we passed.

The Head Matron suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the end of the hall, her warm, motherly smile completely gone.

Instead, her face was a weird, terrifying mixture of horror and deep awe.

"My lady," she gasped, dropping into a bow so low her forehead almost touched the dusty stone floor.

"Please stop doing that," I said, my voice cracking a little. "My name is Kelsey. You were literally calling me a lottery candidate two hours ago."

"Everything has changed now, my lady," she whispered nervously, scrambling back up to her feet and gesturing for me to follow her.

She led me into a completely different wing of the palace, a place that made the candidate quarters look like an actual storage closet.

The guards pushed open two carved doors, and I stepped inside, my eyes going wide.

I actually let out a nervous, breathless laugh because the whole situation felt like a ridiculous bad joke.

The chambers were impossibly huge. There were floor-to-ceiling silk curtains hanging from giant archways, a dark velvet couch, and a bed that was literally the size of my family's entire house back in the village.

At the far end of the room, glass windows looked out over the entire kingdom, showing miles of dark forest and towering grey mountains under the cloudy sky.

"These are the Royal Suite annexes," the Matron explained, her hands trembling as she smoothed down her apron. "They are connected directly to His Majesty's private wing."

"Connected?" I repeated, my throat suddenly going dry. "Why would I be connected to his rooms?"

"Because you need to understand something, Kelsey," she said, dropping the title for just a second as she looked me straight in the eyes. "You are no longer a simple candidate. You are now under His Majesty's direct, personal protection."

"Okay, but what does the word surrogate even mean in this context?" I asked, my voice rising slightly as the panic started creeping up my neck. "Am I being locked in a breeding dungeon or something? Is he going to kill me if I can't have a baby?"

The Matron went completely pale, looking like she was going to faint right onto the carpet. "My lady, please, do not say such things out loud!"

Before she could offer a real answer, the doors slammed open with a loud thud.

Head Physician Varian marched into the room, holding a giant stack of roughly seven thousand old medical books tucked under his arms. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week, his dark hair messy and deep bags hanging under his eyes.

"Out, Matron," Varian barked, not even looking at her as he dumped the stack of books onto a nearby wooden table with a loud crash.

The Matron didn't hesitate for a second. She scurried out of the room like a frightened mouse, and Varian turned around, locking the door securely behind her.

He turned back to face me, his expression the most dead-serious look I had ever seen on a human face in my entire life.

I took a small step backward, my hand instinctively coming up to touch the back of my neck where the King had held me earlier.

"Sit down, Kelsey," Varian said, pointing a finger at the velvet couch near the fireplace.

"I prefer standing," I replied softly, swallowing the lump in my throat. My knees were shaking, but I didn't want to show him how scared I actually was.

Varian let out a long, sigh, running a tired hand over his face. "I am not going to hurt you, girl. But you need to sit down because what I am about to explain is going to completely change your understanding of what is happening to your body."

I looked at the couch, then at the locked door, and finally back at the old physician's pale face.

Realizing I didn't really have a choice, I slowly walked over and sat on the very edge of the cushion, keeping my feet planted flat on the floor so I could run if I had to.

"Explain," I mumbled, holding my breath.

Varian pulled up a wooden chair, sitting directly across from me and leaning his elbows on his knees.

"The King's bloodline is Lycan power," Varian began, his voice dropping low so it wouldn't carry past the thick walls. "It is far too strong for normal human women, and even most wolf females, to handle. For two hundred years, every candidate who attempted to carry his child suffered complete organ failure within weeks because their bodies rejected the strength of his seed."

My stomach did a violent flip, a cold sweat breaking out across my forehead. "So... so being selected is basically a death sentence?"

"For anyone else? Yes," Varian said bluntly. "Which is why the Elders call this process a lottery, but the King considers it a tragedy. He never wanted to bring women here to die."

He leaned in closer, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my chest tighten.

"But you are different, Kelsey," he said, pointing toward the stack of books on the table. "Your blood didn't just reject the Blood Crystals today. It shattered them because your body possesses an ancient, dormant compatibility that hasn't been seen in our records for over a thousand years."

"I am just a human," I insisted, my voice shaking as I shook my head back and forth. "I live in a small village. I help my mom bake rolls and I fix fence posts with my sister. I don't have magic blood!"

"The Moon Altar glowing on its own does not lie," Varian countered quietly. "The King declaring you his surrogate means he is bypassing the traditional Luna trial completely. He is not going to take you as a wife, nor is he going to force you into a breeding dungeon."

"Then what is he going to do to me?" I asked, tears finally pricking at the corners of my eyes as the weight of the situation hit me. I was just a girl who wanted to protect her sister, and now I was trapped in a crazy nightmare with a literal monster king.

"He is going to use his own blood to bind your life force to his," Varian revealed softly, the words hanging in the quiet room. "To ensure your body can withstand carrying a royal heir without killing you in the process."

I sat frozen on the couch, staring at the old doctor in terror, realizing there was no escaping the dark reality stretching out before me.