Krista Seigfren
I never thought a day like this one would come. The royal family, happily united, their golden girl, Denora Seigfren, back at last.
I watched my family from across the room in silence, Evadne and Asher, expressing their concern. Acting like the last six years never happened. As if they never mourned, moved on or even adapted. Was it just me?
I didn't just adapt, I had grown. I had stepped into the void she left behind. I earned every bit of it. Deserved it.
And now? One ripple in the realm and the throne turns its head back toward her.
My breathing grew erratic. Disappointment clung to me like second skin, wondering how Denora managed to survive 6 years outside this realm.
The lake witch in Belana promised me Denora would die. I paid her, waited even. I watched with my two eyes while the portal vanished. She swore to me that she sent her to a world where no goddess hybrid, wolf or magic summoner could have survived.
Yet here she is. Alive and breathing.
My stomach twisted in disgust as I watched my father's face soften as he looked upon her. This man, the Alpha King, who had barked his disappointment in Denora's name for years, now gazed down at her like she was made of stars and moonlight.
Knowing him, he would summon a meeting at court, telling us how the moon goddess had shown favor on Esmien, returning his daughter.
His favorite Daughter.
Esmien had been in a war since she left. At least she could be useful.
My fists curled at my sides. The silk of my dress slipped between my fingers as I squeezed hard. My nails nearly tore through the fabric. My jaw locked so tight I thought something might snap.
Because I knew what would come next.
All of it.
The court would bow to her again. The nobles would whisper of her resilience, her beauty, her miraculous return. Father gave me Denora's role in her absence. Her position as Court Diplomat, once given to me, would now be handed right back.
And me?
Dismissed. Forgotten. Replaced.
Again.
I need to find a way to calm myself down.
I trailed behind Asher and the guards in silence, each step a march deeper into the shadow I had once crawled out of. Asher was holding her like a fragile relic, cradling her like a sacred heirloom that returned.
They are all so ignorant! They don't even realize she could be dangerous now. I watched as magic flickered beneath her skin in unstable bursts. What if she came back changed?
We reached her old chambers. No one had stepped foot in here since she disappeared.
I recall I'd tried once. A few weeks after her presumed death, I walked inside to see if there was anything worth salvaging. A ring, a pendant, a letter maybe. But the air inside had pulsed violently the moment I crossed the threshold. Her magic, or something else, had rejected me.
Even in death, she was selfish.
Asher placed her gently on her newly laid bed.
Evadne stayed close, pressing a damp cloth to her forehead, murmuring words meant to soothe her while unconscious.
I didn't move. I lingered near the door, the only person less dramatic, and not trying to touch her. I didn't want to feel her skin. I didn't want to know if it was warm.
I rolled my eyes at the sight, picking up the figure of her vampire mate Victor, the Knight of the Selvinorian army.
He hid behind the high walls in the corridor, watching us all quietly. His eyes. goddess, those eyes, had been fixed on Denora since she fell. I heard his new wife had even screamed at him. Despite Father threatening him, his gaze had remained glued to her.
He didn't deserve the cruel way my father treated him for being mated to Denora. And I hated him for that. Not because he loved her. But because maybe, if he had chosen me instead, father would have liked him. And I could've had something.
Respect. Power. Love. A purpose beyond Denora's leftovers.
No one ever cared to know about my life, about who I liked or who came after me to wed. It wasn't always like that, but Denora's existence had done nothing but threaten mine.
Perhaps if Victor had come for me, Father would have finally looked at me like I mattered. Maybe Mother wouldn't have acted like I was invisible in Denora's shadow.
She would be thrilled to hear her favorite daughter had come back. Too bad she was in a coma, kept alive by the lifeline river, connected to moonstones and memory runes in the palace.
Perhaps that was a mercy for me. If she were awake, I'd have to endure her tears of joy, her soft whispers: "I knew my baby girl would come home."
No one ever asked me how I was coping.
No one ever asked me what I lost when Denora vanished.
Because they all assumed I gained something. Her absence was my promotion. Her death, my inheritance.
But I didn't want crumbs. I wanted to rule.
It was a good thing I had a mate. Even though we were a secret for now, soon enough, our engagement would be announced. A noble man from the King's court. Father wouldn't dismiss me then.
The healer came. A young priestess with soft eyes and trembling hands. She bowed too deeply before approaching Denora.
"We need some time. Her magical core is destabilizing. Her body is reacting to a realm-shift trauma. There are signs of hybrid strain and—"
"She's not a hybrid," I snapped. "She's just a Seigfren. Nothing more."
The healer blinked at me, confused. "She returned with a Lycan wolf, princess. And she's leaking magic from multiple bloodlines."
"A Lycan?" Evadne muttered, eyes widening with curiosity. Perhaps the priestess is referring to the guy who was in chains earlier.
"It could be a contamination," I replied, forcing a cold smile. "Who knows what creatures she lived among for six years."
Evadne turned slightly, frowning. "Krista. She's our sister."
"She was our sister," I corrected, my voice flat.
"Now we don't know what she is."
That statement quieted the room.
The healer stepped back, flustered, and left to gather stabilizing potions.
I remained near the doorway, silent. Watching.
Watching Denora twitch beneath the sheets. Her fingers curled like claws. A flicker of golden light sparked at her temple and died.
She was dreaming.
She was still connected.
And if she could return from a place the lake witch swore would kill her, then she could ruin everything.
That night, I stood at the balcony outside the royal wing, overlooking the moonlit courtyard.
Victor was there again, leaving Denora's room axis. He had been watching over her.
Alone. Face turned toward the stars.
I stepped outside, arms crossed. "You look like someone mourning the dead."
He didn't look at me. "I don't trust you."
The honesty in his voice made something bitter twist in my chest.
"You were never supposed to,Victor." I said, stepping beside him. "You were never mine to trust."
He turned then, slowly. "If you had anything to do with what happened to her…"
I raised an eyebrow. "You'd what? Kill me? Denora wouldn't want that. Or maybe she would, now that she's not the perfect daughter anymore."
He moved so fast I barely registered it. His hand slammed into the stone wall beside my head, not touching me, but close enough.
"Stay away from her."
I smiled, slow and poisonous. "I'm her sister, Victor. I can't stay away. Family, remember?"
He watched me, really watched.
"I'm warning you Krista. Be careful." He shot back, disappearing into the trees before the guards approached me to ask about the noise.
I told them it was the birds.
That night, I slipped into the chamber beneath the castle. Past the statues of dead kings, down into the vault that once held war secrets and ancient relics.
The witch had lied to me.
But I still had the relic she gave me.
A bone dagger, inscribed with runes from a realm no one dares speak aloud.
If Denora had returned stronger…
Then I would simply have to become something else entirely.
Not her shadow, or her sister.
But her enemy.
Her bloodline enemy.
Her ultimate end.