Elowen's Pov
I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the chamber.
Shattered glass littered the floor like fallen ice, catching the candlelight in sharp, accusing fragments. The dressing table had been overturned, its carved legs splintered, drawers torn free and scattered. A silk gown lay ruined among the wreckage, fabric ripped as if by impatient hands.
My breath caught.
Cassian sat on the edge of the bed with his back to me, shoulders rigid, head turned toward the window.
Moonlight poured in through the open panes, outlining him in silver and shadow. He was perfectly still. Too still. Like a storm paused only by force.
"I should leave," I thought. "I should not be here."
But the door closed softly behind me, and the sound seemed to seal my fate.
I took a careful step forward, my heart hammering so loudly I was certain he could hear it. He did not turn. He did not move. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, pressing against my chest until it hurt to breathe.
I waited for him to speak.
Nothing.
"I should say something," I thought. "Anything."
I opened my mouth.
"And you, Your Majesty," he said suddenly, his voice calm in a way that frightened me far more than shouting ever could. "Are you happy."
The words struck like a slap.
My throat tightened. "Yes" I replied before I could stop myself, fear sharpening my tone. "I am still adjusting."
The words seemed all too familiar. This was the same question Prince Rowan asked me.
How did he come to know, were we being spied on?
The silence returned, heavier now.
"I did not mean to offend.. ," I added quickly, defensively. "I said I am adjusting."
Only then did he turn.
His gaze met mine, and the air seemed to shift with it. Whatever restraint he had been holding fractured, not into rage, but into something colder. More dangerous.
His eyes were dark, stormed over, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack.
He rose slowly, every movement deliberate.
"You spoke those words easily earlier," he said. "Did they come just as easily to me."
My pulse raced. "I do not understand."
"You do," he replied, stepping closer. Not rushing. Never rushing. "You simply wish you did not."
I backed away instinctively until the edge of the bed pressed into my legs. He stopped an arm's length from me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him, close enough that the room felt suddenly very small.
"I did not forbid you from speaking," he continued. "Yet you chose to speak to them."
"They spoke to me," I said softly. "I did nothing wrong."
His mouth curved slightly, but there was no humour in it. "You did something revealing."
My fingers curled into the fabric of my nightdress. "I was lonely."
The word hung between us, fragile and exposed.
His eyes flicked briefly to the broken glass, the ruined furniture, then back to me.
"I did not know conversation was a crime," I said, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it.
"It is not," he replied. "But dissatisfaction is noticed."
Fear coiled tight in my stomach. He had not touched me. Had not raised his voice. Yet every instinct in me screamed danger.
"I am still learning this place," I said quietly. "Learning you."
Something dark passed over his expression at that.
"Be careful with that," he said. "Learning me is not without consequence."
My courage faltered. "I did not mean to insult you."
He studied me for a long moment, as though weighing something unseen. "Tell me," he said at last, his tone deceptively calm. "What have I done to make you seek comfort in the company of foreign princes on our first night as husband and wife."
I swallowed. "You were not there."
Silence.
"That," he said softly, "is an answer."
He turned away then, facing the window once more. The moonlight caught the sharp lines of his profile, the tension coiled beneath his skin.
"You should remember this," he said without looking at me. "Words travel faster than intention. And once spoken, they belong to whoever hears them."
My heart pounded.
He glanced back over his shoulder, his gaze locking onto mine with chilling certainty. "If you are unhappy, Elowen, be certain you understand why."
His voice dropped lower. "And be certain of what it will cost you to say it again."
Then he turned away, leaving the threat hanging in the air, sharp and unanswered, as the room closed in around me.