POV: Elara
The glow in my eyes faded when the flame flickered out, but I still felt it, the heat humming low in my chest like a second heart. I pressed my hands against the cold stone wall, trying to balance myself. Whatever was inside me… it wasn't asleep anymore.
The morning came too early. By the time I stepped out into the hallway, the whispers had already started.
"She's still here?"
"The slave girl?"
"I heard the King touched her hand."
"No, he ordered to serve him."
"What's so special about her?"
I kept my eyes down as I walked past them, my hands folded at my sides. The other staff stepped away from me like I carried a plague. Maybe I did. Maybe I was becoming something dangerous, and they could feel it.
Everywhere I turned, people were watching, studying, judging, and I reached the main hall, where nobles moved like crows in shiny robes and gleaming jewels. They barely noticed the servants, except for me.
A tall man in deep green leaned in toward another noble. "She's the one," the man whispered, not quietly enough. The girl is from the lower chambers. She has no house, no title, the other sneered. Yet the king keeps her close?
I stop them, trying not to flinch. My bare feet ached against the marble floor. Perhaps she's his pet, the first whispered with a cruel grin.
I kept walking. I didn't cry. I refused to cry, but when I reached the turn of the hallway, a sharp, lilting laugh stopped me cold.
"Oh dear," came a woman's voice. "This is worse than I ever imagined."
I turned slowly. She stood tall, dressed in silver armor etched with lilac flowers, her white-blond hair tied into a crown, her two eyes amethyst and cold, roamed over me like I was something sticky on her boot.
"Seraphina," I whispered.
She smiled like a knife… "The infamous maid," she said. "You're even more pitiful up close. I almost feel bad."
I said nothing, I just stared.
She circled me slowly. You're the reason the court is in chaos, the reason the leaders are questioning Kael's judgment. Do you know what it took to get this so far? And now a servant with dirt under her nails is standing where I should be.
I never asked to be near him, I said tightly.
But he let you near him, she snapped. "That's worse." She stepped closer, her voice dropping. Here's a lesson, maid: Kings don't keep things they can't control. Eventually, they burn them." She turned and walked away, her clothes were moving like she owned the castle, and maybe once, she did.
Later that evening, I returned to my room, my neck tight, my limbs heavy. I needed silence, just a moment of silence, but the door was already slightly open, I froze.
Inside, everything was the same, except for one thing. A silver box lay open on my cot, velvet-lined, and filled with glittering jewels. A chain of blood-rubies sat on top.
My heart dropped. "No, no, no…" I rushed to the door. "Guard!"
Two men turned. One narrowed his eyes. "Found the missing heirloom," he said simply. "We've been searching all afternoon."
"I didn't… someone put it here! I swear I didn't touch it!"
But they were already stepping inside, lifting the box. "You'll speak to the council," one of them said. They didn't grab me roughly. They didn't need to.
My legs shook as I was led through the upper rooms, into the courts of the castle.
The high council sat on stone thrones, covered in shades and mistrust.
Seraphina stood near the front, her arms crossed, smirking like she'd already won.
"This is a mistake," I said. "I've never even seen that necklace before…"
"It was a gift from the King's mother," Seraphina interrupted. One-of-a-kind lost for some years. Suddenly found in the hands of a maid?" She scoffed. "She's a thief. Perhaps worse."
"I didn't take it," I said, louder this time. "It was planted."
"She lies," Seraphina snapped. "She's terrified," I corrected. "Because you're afraid of what I might become."
The room went still, and Seraphina's lips curled. "You think you're special?" she asked me.
No, I think you're scared, I am. The nobles muttered, the elders traded looks. Then a familiar voice echoed through the room.
"Enough."
Kael. He strode in like a storm… silver armor, black robe flowing behind him, his eyes ice-cold. He didn't look at anyone else only, me.
"She stays," he said, no punishment, no further questioning."
"But Your Majesty, " Seraphina started.
"My word," Kael said strongly, "is law." He turned to the guards. "Escort her back to her room."
They followed without question.
Seraphina didn't speak again, but her look could've turned me to ash.
Back in my room, I fell onto the cot. I felt nothing, not relief, not anger, but just numbness. I lay there, looking at the stone ceiling, until the knock came.
I didn't make any move. Then the door opened. Kael stepped inside. He didn't look angry, but he looked… tired, and frustrated. He walked in slowly and closed the door behind him.
"You're not supposed to be here," I said quietly.
"I know." He stopped in front of me for a long time, neither of us spoke, then he reached for my wrist, but I flinched.
"Let me see," he said.
I let him.
His fingers traced the mark left by the guards. Then another, darker one from before.
"Who did this to you?" he asked.
"You already know, I said."
His jaw tightened. "I issued a decree," he said. "You're under my protection. No one should be putting hands on you again."
"They do it in the shadows," I whispered. "The moment your back is turned."
He let go, pacing again.
"This court is falling apart," he said. "Seraphina is stirring them. They smell blood. They want me distracted."
I sat up. "Then why protect me?"
He turned to face me, and then he grabbed my wrist again, tighter this time.
"What are you hiding?" he asked. "What's in you that even Seraphina fears?"
"I told you I don't know," I said. "But something's waking up. And it's not what I asked for."
He didn't let go.
His gaze dropped to my chest, as if trying to see the truth inside me.
"It's dragon," he said. Then I tensed. "You don't know that."
I do, I've seen their power, their fire, and I've seen it in you."
He stepped closer, with a low voice. You're not just a maid, or just a rejected cat… you're something impossible, and that makes you dangerous."
"To you?" I asked.
"To everyone." …we were so close now I could feel the stress humming between us. Heat and something deeper.
I should send you away, he whispered. "Banish you before the court tears itself apart."
"Then why haven't you?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he dropped my wrist and turned toward the door, but before he could leave, the flames in my candle flared suddenly high, throwing wild shadows on the walls.
Kael turned slowly, his two eyes narrowed… then his voice dropped into a whisper. "Your eyes… they're glowing again."
I blinked, and something inside me muttered back: I am not alone, not anymore.