Chapter 17

Elvanya's Pov

I woke up that morning feeling heavy and strange. I kept touching my arm where Thorne cut me the day before, but the skin was perfectly smooth and cold. The cuts were completely gone, erased by the hidden power inside me. I remembered the silver flash in my eyes in the dark mirror, and I tried to forget it all and push it out of my mind. I had a dangerous secret and a dangerous power, and I had to hide both.

Mira shook me awake roughly. “You’re late, Elvanya. Get up now, you must move fast. Something big and strange happened last night.”

“What happened, Mira? Did the King find out about the rumors?” I mumbled, sitting up quickly and looking around the dark sleeping room.

“Worse than that. Cordelia is furious and shouting in the kitchen right now. The King sent a direct command this morning to the head servant. It concerns you directly, you are assigned as his personal servant now. Only to him and his private rooms.”

My stomach dropped with cold fear and dread. I looked at Mira, my eyes wide. “What does that mean for me? What are my specific duties now?”

“It means you attend only to Kael, the Alpha. His chambers, his food and personal needs. You won’t clean the halls or kitchen anymore, you’re confined to the high part of the palace where he is at all times. This is not good, Elvanya. It’s worse than being a normal slave because you’re always under his control.”

I knew she was right immediately. Being the King’s personal servant meant I was always in his sight. I was trapped with the beast who knew my terrible secret and was watching the Moon Mark.

I walked quickly to the kitchen and found Cordelia standing there. Her face was dark with anger and frustration. She stared at me with pure hate.

“You.” Cordelia pointed a thick finger at my chest and jabbed the air. “You are lucky and strangely favored, human. The King has ordered you to serve him directly. I don’t understand his reasoning, it’s a complete waste of a cleaner who just learned the rules.”

“I will obey the King’s orders, Mistress Cordelia,” I said, keeping my voice flat and without emotion.

“You will. And you will be silent at all times. Don’t speak unless spoken to by the Alpha, don’t move unless commanded. Don’t cause any trouble in his private chambers or near him. Do you understand how close to death you are now that you’re under his direct attention?”

“Yes, Mistress. I understand the great danger.” I swallowed hard and nodded once.

Cordelia paused, looking me up and down slowly, inspecting my cheap dress. “Go now, go straight to his floor. Ask the guard for instruction and don’t look at anyone else. Don’t speak to any other servant on the way.”

I walked quickly out of the kitchen toward the high tower where the King’s chambers were. Fear and dread filled me again, i was going back to the place where my mark was exposed and my life was threatened by truth.

I reached the King’s floor and the guard there was a huge beast named Golan. Taller than Thorne, he stood like a statue.

“You are the new personal servant?” Golan asked. His voice rumbled like thunder.

“Yes, Sir. I am Elvanya, I am here for instruction and command.”

“The King is currently in the council hall. He ordered you to clean his chamber and study immediately. He’ll return in exactly four hours. Go inside and clean everything perfectly, be silent. Don’t touch anything on his large desk or the wall shelves.” Golan warned me seriously.

“I will obey, Sir.” I nodded and walked past him into the main room.

I was now inside the King’s private chamber again. It was as grand and cold as I remembered from the day before. I took a deep breath to steady myself and prepare for the long work. I was alone in the King’s private home.

I started cleaning right away. I wiped down the large windows and cold stone walls. I swept the stone floor carefully. I dusted the heavy chairs and large tables. I moved slowly and silently so I wouldn’t make noise the guard might hear or report.

I cleaned for one hour, then two. I started to relax slightly, because the King wasn’t here and I was focused only on work.

Then the King returned early without warning or sound.

The heavy door opened without a noise. Kael walked in, he wore his black coat and looked tired, angry, and very dangerous. Thorne followed him like a shadow.

I stopped cleaning immediately. I bowed low and kept my head down. I held a polishing cloth in my hand and kept it still.

“Get back to work, human. Don’t stop because I entered the room,” Kael commanded. His voice was rough and sharp.

Thorne stared at me with hateful amber eyes. He watched closely to see if I was lying or if I would flinch seeing him. I didn’t flinch, i kept my face blank.

Kael sat at his huge stone desk and started looking at papers and documents. Thorne stood behind him like a dark shadow, watching me with intense focus.

I kept cleaning but was tense and stiff. I felt Kael’s eyes on me. He didn’t speak, but I felt him watching every move. His presence pressed like cold heat right where the mark was hidden under my cheap cloth.

I walked to the fireplace and cleaned the soot from the hearth with a small brush. I tried to look busy, unimportant, and focused only on dirt.

Thorne whispered something low to Kael. I couldn’t hear the words but knew they spoke about me and the King’s decision.

Kael answered coldly and clearly across the room: “I’m not playing games with a servant, Beta. She’s a useful problem I must keep close, she stays under my direct sight at all times. Don’t question my command.”

Thorne didn’t reply, but I felt his hatred radiate from his large body. He wanted me dead and hated the King’s decision to keep me alive and close.

I cleaned the main chamber perfectly. I worked for another hour while they sat silent, discussing business. The tension was thick, like cold air before a storm.

When I finished the main room, I cleaned the small study attached. It was narrow, with a single desk and tall bookshelves.

Kael spoke again without looking at me or raising his head from papers. “Clean the study now, be careful of the documents on the desk. Don’t touch the heavy book that’s open.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll be very careful,” I whispered and went into the study.

I dusted the walls and high shelves. I was careful not to look at the desk at first. It was large and full of official documents and old scrolls tied with ribbon.

I felt his eyes on me again, though he sat in the next room. I knew he watched me from the doorway, he was testing my obedience and curiosity.

I dusted the bookcase near the desk. I looked down quickly. There was a book open on the desk. It was an old leather-bound book with dark, brittle pages. It looked very old, valuable, and important.

The book was open in the middle. Pages were covered in strange drawings and writing. The drawings caught my attention and made my heart race.

There were drawings of a crescent moon with small dots around it. The Moon Mark. Many versions drawn in thin black ink, they looked exactly like the symbol on my back.

I had to look closer to be sure. I moved the dusting cloth slowly over the desk edge, pretending to clean. My eyes scanned the pages quickly while I dusted.

The text was in a language I couldn’t read. It wasn’t common human speech or the modern Lycan tongue. It was an older, ancient beast script.

But at the bottom of the page, in small neat handwriting, the language changed. It was written in the common Lycan tongue, clearly translated from the ancient text above.

I read the short sentence fast before forcing myself to look away.

The sentence said: “Bound by destiny, divided by blood.”

I froze completely. I stopped moving the dusting cloth. My heart beat very hard and fast in my chest, and my breathing stopped. Bound by destiny. That phrase was frightening. It felt like a chain around my throat and soul. The terrible prophecy was real and happening now.

I knew the word blood meant the difference between beast and human. It meant I was bound to the King by a cruel destiny, but I was still a human slave, and he was the beast who ruled me. I was his opposite, yet tied to him.

I quickly looked to the doorway. Kael sat at his desk, staring right at me. His silver eyes were cold and sharp, watching my reaction. He was waiting to see what I’d do with the forbidden knowledge.