As soon as he kissed me, my whole body charged with something I couldn't explain. It was like lightning and fire danced through my veins, sparking heat in my chest, tingling down my spine, and making my knees weak.
My skin felt alive, like it finally recognized something it had been searching for. My heart beat louder than ever, and the air between us vanished. This kiss didn't seem like just a kiss… it felt like it unlocked something deep inside me.
And that's when it snapped.
Like a string pulled too tight, it finally broke, and everything hit me all at once. My eyes opened wide, like the world had been foggy and now it was crystal clear. We were mates. Real mates.
The kind the moon itself blesses. I could see it now… everything he'd said, everything he'd tried to explain. He wasn't lying. Kissing him only made my soul wake up to the truth I had refused to see.
I broke away from him fast. My breath hitched, my hand shot to my chest like it could hold my heart still. My legs wobbled as confusion stormed through me like a hurricane. What the hell just happened? Me? A maid? Mated to the Alpha Prince?
Nah, this can't be real.
I stared at him like he was a stranger, even though a part of me was already craving to go back to his arms. But my head was a mess. My mind screamed. My heart pulsed. My whole world had flipped upside down.
"Valkira…" he said my name low, soft, almost like an apology. Prince Zeroth's voice carried more weight than ever now. His eyes ... Those eyes held something new in them.
Not just surprise, but understanding. He could see it now too… how shocked I was. And that he'd been wrong. He thought I knew. He thought I'd found out and was playing him. Using the mate bond to climb up the ranks.
His face twisted. Guilt sat on him. His brows furrowed, and his lips parted like he wanted to say more but didn't know how. And I just stood there, breathing hard, watching the prince of the realm look more like a boy who made a mistake.
But I wasn't mad about that, I couldn't focus on that when a bigger storm was brewing. Alpha Prince Zeroth… mated to me. A servant girl. Not Princess Ygraine, the one his father had chosen. Not the elegant daughter of a great alpha.
Me.
What would the Alpha King say? What would happen to me? What would happen to him?
The room felt too small. I didn't even try to speak… I just turned and ran. Out of his room, down the corridor. Away from the heat, the kiss, the questions.
I didn't know where I was going until I found myself back in the maids' chamber. I slammed the door behind me, my heart still pounding, and my body still trembling. I didn't cry. I couldn't. I was too numb for that. My thoughts were screaming, but my mouth was shut.
And of course, Nyxara showed up again.
"You dirty little cheat," she hissed, her lips curled in that cruel smile of hers, stepping closer like she was ready to pounce. Her eyes gleamed with something bitter, twisted.
I didn't respond. I didn't even blink. I just stared at her like she was a shadow, a noise I didn't have time for.
Because she doesn't know how I'm feeling right now.
She should leave me alone… or this won't end well.
"What? You tired already of being Prince Zeroth's personal maid?" she teased, her voice dripping with fake sweetness.
I didn't answer. I just sat there, holding in too many emotions. My heart was still not back to normal after what happened with the prince. I was trying to breathe, to think, to make sense of anything. But of course, Nyxara came to ruin the one second of peace I was holding onto.
"Why won't you be tired when you cheated to get the position?" she sneered, taking a step closer. "I know what you did. You slept with Darethor to get here. You're nothing but a slùt."
As soon as that word left her mouth, something snapped inside me.
It wasn't anger, it was deeper than that. Like a string in my chest suddenly pulled tight and burst. I stood up slowly, my eyes locking with hers.
The room faded, and I couldn't hear the other girls. I couldn't even hear myself breathing. It felt like I wasn't in control of my body, like something else took over.
"Go to the wall," I heard myself say. "And hit your head seven times on the wall. Don't stop until it's up to seven."
As soon as those words left my mouth, I blinked, like waking from a trance. I stepped back, confused. I didn't mean to say that. Why did I say that? And she wouldn't do it anyway, right? That's insane.
But then… she moved.
She walked straight to the wall like she was in a trance. No hesitation, no resistance.
BANG!!! On the wall.
My heart jumped, and my whole body froze.
BANG!!!
BANG!!! The third time was louder. I gasped, my hands flew to my mouth. "No. No no no. This can't be happening," I whispered. "This has to be a dream. It has to be."
My legs refused to move, my mouth dry, chest rising and falling too fast. What was this? Why did she obey me like that? I didn't even mean it. I didn't even think I had that kind of power.
BANG!
BANG!
Blood splattered on the wall after the fifth hit. Thick, dark red. The sound of her skull hitting the wall made my stomach twist. The sound of flesh cracking against stone… it was something I'd never forget.
Other maids had gathered by now. Screaming, crying, trying to stop her. But she pushed them away like she had no control of her own body.
"Xara! Stop! Stop hurting yourself!" one girl begged, clutching her wrist.
But she shook her head, blood running down her forehead, dripping from her chin.
"I have to…" she said in a low, broken voice. "Remain two."
Her voice… it didn't sound like Nyxara anymore. It sounded hollow, empty, possessed.
The girls tried to hold her back, but she struggled like a wild animal, like her body didn't belong to her anymore. Her eyes were glassy, unfocused. Her hands balled into fists. Blood covered her face and hair.
It was as if she needed to hit her head on the wall. Like she couldn't stop… because she was compelled.
Compelled by me… I caused this.