The air in the chamber shifted.
Not with sound—but with a sharp, sudden pressure, thick as gathering storm.
Camilla rose from her seat, and with a single, careless flick of her hand, the long dining table was hurled aside. Plates and glass shattered against the marble floor, food and silver scattering in violent arcs.
Aurelia stumbled back, her breath catching in her throat, a cold sweat breaking across her skin.
"You dare speak to me like that?" Camilla snarled, the words slithering through the sudden silence. "Who do you think you are?"
Camilla straightened—but not like a human. Her spine arched, as though something inside her was pushing outward, straining against flesh that no longer wished to contain it. The elegant poise of the crown princess drained away, replaced by something predatory, coiled, and utterly alien.
Her smile vanished.
Aurelia's heart slammed violently against her ribs. In her fear, she had forgotten. Lady Camilla was not human.
Camilla's eyes gleamed, the ice-blue irises darkening into a feral, bottomless black. Her fingers lengthened, joints cracking softly, nails sharpening into curved, obsidian points.
The air grew colder, heavier, pressing down until Aurelia struggled just to draw breath. It was a brutal reminder: she should have watched her words.
Before Camilla could take another step, Sorana moved.
She stepped in front of Aurelia without hesitation, her body angling protectively as if by a deep, unthinking instinct. Her calm, preserved composure shattered—and something ancient and terrible rose in its place.
The candlelights guttered and flickered.
Sorana's shadow swelled behind her, unfolding like a vast, winged silhouette too large for the confines of the room. Her eyes, usually so placid, now burned with a faint, eerie light—no longer human, no longer gentle.
"Stop."
Sorana's voice was layered, echoing with a resonance of power that did not belong to a servant or a lady-in-waiting. It was a command that vibrated in the bones.
For the first time, true uncertainty flickered across Camilla's transformed features. Aurelia could only stare, her breath a shaky gasp in her tightening chest.
She had always known Sorana was one of the dark creatures, like the others at court.
But this—
This was something else entirely.
And standing between her and Camilla's fury, Sorana did not look like a maid.
She looked like a guardian.
A low, guttural sound ripped from Camilla's throat—a sound of pure, unbridled rage. The hesitation vanished, consumed by wrath.
She did not stop. In one vicious, blurring motion, she backhanded Sorana across the face. Not a slap, but a strike. Razor-sharp nails raked deep, painting the air with a spray of dark blood.
Sorana cried out—a sharp, pained sound—stumbling back before her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.
Warm droplets spattered across Aurelia's cheek. The blood was startling, metallic, and painfully warm.
Before Aurelia could even flinch, Camilla was on her. She seized Aurelia by the shoulders and slammed her back against the wall with a force that knocked the wind from her lungs in a voiceless wheeze. A palm, hard and unyielding as stone, pressed against her throat, crushing her windpipe.
Aurelia choked, her vision blurring at the edges. She clawed at Camilla's wrist, her own nails digging futilely into the unnaturally cool, tough skin. The grip only tightened. Her desperate, tapping struggles became frantic, weakening slaps as the world began to narrow to a darkening tunnel.
Her lungs burned, screaming for air that could not come. A desperate, ragged cough tore through her constricted chest, but it was soundless, airless. Black spots bloomed and danced behind her eyes, merging into a creeping void.
The fight was leaving her limbs, draining away with the last of her oxygen. The ghost of surrender beckoned from the welcoming, silent shadows.
Aurelia couldn't breathe. The darkness pressed in, thick and final.
Then—
"Enough."
The single word cut through the chamber like a blade.
Kaelen stood at the entrance, unmoving. His presence didn't just fill the room—it bent the air itself, thick with authority that even the shadows seemed to obey.
Camilla froze.
Her grip on her neck loosened.
Aurelia slid down the wall, gasping, each ragged breath a small, blessed victory.
Camilla's shadow writhed against the floor, a living thing denied its prey—but it did not advance.
Slowly, painfully, she forced herself upright, driving the beast back beneath her skin with visible effort. Her nails retracted. Her eyes lightened to a simmering blue—but the fury in them burned, hot and relentless.
Her gaze locked on Kaelen.
"This is not over," she hissed, venom dripping from each word. "And when you're done… leave my room."
Camilla left the room her smile brighter than the last.
Aurelia's chest heaved. Relief and fear collided inside her, a storm she could not name, as Kaelen's presence held the room in rigid, undeniable control.
Aurelia rushed to Sorana's side, her own knees hitting the marble floor hard.
"She's bleeding—please help!"
Tears fell from Aurelia's purple eyes, tracking through the dust and speckles of blood on her cheeks. Her hands trembled as she pressed them gently against the deep, angry gashes across Sorana's face, trying uselessly to staunch the dark flow.
Sorana's eyes fluttered, unfocused. The terrifying guardian had retreated, leaving behind the fragile servant once more—pale, breathing shallowly, and bleeding freely onto the cold stone.
"Okay."
He rushed forward, gathering Sorana's limp form into his arms with swift efficiency. But as he moved to rise, his hand brushed against Aurelia's. He stilled.
His fingers slowly settled over hers. He could feel the warmth in her palm, the faint tremor running through her. His gaze lifted, meeting her purple eyes—wide with fear, shimmering with unshed tears.
To him, Aurelia had always seemed too perfect to be human. Ethereal. And in that fractured moment, he loved her so completely it was a physical ache.
Aurelia sensed his hesitation, his distraction. "Kaelen, please—" she whispered, urgency cutting through her tears. She tried to lift Sorana's shoulders herself, but her own strength failed, her arms trembling under the weight.
She was too weak, and he was distracted by that.
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To be continued...