All Chapters of Cursed by the Dark Prince : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The castle was a labyrinth of polished stone and shadow, vast halls lined with tapestries that whispered history in muted colors. Each corridor gleamed with wealth and power, yet beneath the beauty lay a suffocating order, a sense that every step she took was being watched, weighed, measured. Elara felt it immediately — the gilded floors, the ornate chandeliers, even the delicate patterns on the walls felt less like decoration and more like chains.She wandered through the halls, her mark burning faintly beneath her sleeve, a constant reminder of the bond and the price of servitude. Kael’s presence hovered in every shadow, subtle but undeniable, and the castle itself seemed to pulse with his awareness. It was a cage, she realized — a velvet cage. Smooth, elegant, almost welcoming, yet impossible to escape.Even the air felt different here, heavy with magic and silence. Servants passed without looking at her, bowing automatically as she moved through the hall, whispering prayers under

Morning came slowly in the Shadow Keep. Light never entered fully; it slid down the stone like water and vanished before reaching the floor. Elara woke to the sound of distant bells, the tolls muffled by the cold walls. Every day here felt the same—measured, heavy, and whisper-quiet.She moved through the narrow corridor that led from her small chamber to the infirmary, her footsteps softened by old rugs. The castle breathed around her: low murmurs, the scrape of metal, the echo of soldiers changing shifts. None of it ever reached the warmth of life.She passed a pair of maids, who bowed quickly and kept their eyes on the ground. No one looked at her for long anymore. They feared the mark on her wrist—the faint, glowing sigil that tied her to the Dark Prince.Elara had learned to keep her sleeves down.---The infirmary was a long hall lined with stone cots. The air smelled of herbs and iron. She worked in silence, cleaning wounds, binding them with linen that shimmered faintly when h

The second bell hadn’t finished ringing when Kael moved.His boots struck the stone floor hard, echoing in rhythm with the chaos spreading through the keep. He stood before Elara, every shadow in the room seeming to bend toward him.Outside, the wind howled, and the faint clash of steel drifted in through the windows.The rebels were closer than he’d thought.“You feel that?” he asked, voice sharp. “The air shifting, the mark burning. You knew they were coming.”Elara didn’t flinch, but her throat worked as she swallowed. “I didn’t.”“Don’t lie to me.” He stepped forward. “The bond hums when you lie.”She hated that he was right—the mark burned like a warning, betraying her no matter how still she stood.Kael’s eyes glowed faintly crimson in the dim light. “Tell me, healer. Did you send word? Did you lead them here?”“No,” she said, steady but breathless. “I swear I didn’t.”“Then how do they know my walls, my patrol routes, my cliffs?”“I don’t know—”“You do.” His tone cut like stee

The castle lay in ruin. Flames still licked the outer walls, smoke curling into the early dawn, mingling with the chill that crept through every stone corridor. Soldiers moved among debris, hauling bodies and tending the wounded, but Kael paid little attention. His focus was fixed entirely on her—on Elara.She sat against the cold wall of the infirmary, knees drawn to her chest, eyes wide and gold against the shadows. Her shoulder still throbbed where the arrow had grazed her, and her wrists burned faintly from the surge of magic during the attack.Kael’s crimson eyes found her instantly. Every heartbeat they shared—every pulse of the curse that bound them—was like a thread pulling tighter across a chasm she didn’t want to cross.“Moonborn,” he said, voice low but carrying, cutting through the groans of the wounded outside. “Get up.”Elara shook her head. “I can’t.”“Yes, you can.” His tone was firm, relentless. “You survived the night, didn’t you? You survived me. You will survive th

The castle never truly slept, but tonight, the shadows themselves seemed alive. Corridors stretched endlessly, lit only by flickering torches whose flames bent strangely, as if avoiding certain corners. Every sound—whispered footsteps, the distant clatter of armor, the sigh of wind against stone—was amplified in the silence.Elara moved carefully, hands clenched at her sides, eyes scanning the shifting shadows. She had been awake for hours, unable to sleep, the bond pulling her into restlessness. Every heartbeat of Kael’s, every surge of his magic, resonated through her. It was exhausting, overwhelming, and terrifying—and yet impossible to ignore.She paused outside the throne room. The door was cracked open, and inside, Kael’s silhouette moved like a wraith among the shadows. The red moonlight from the stained windows fell across the polished floor, catching on the runes carved into his armor, pulsing faintly with the same dark energy that thrummed in her veins.The moment she steppe