✦𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗔✦
The chains were colder than I expected.
They wrapped around my wrists and ankles, heavy iron biting against my skin each time I moved. The dungeon smelled of damp stone and rust, the air thick with the scent of mold and old water.
Somewhere far above, I could hear footsteps.
Not the quiet, familiar rhythm of palace servants.
These were heavier.
Soldiers.
Enemy soldiers.
Five days.
That was how long it had been since the world I knew had shattered.
The iron door creaked open.
Light from the corridor spilled across the floor, and two guards stepped inside. Their armor was unfamiliar dark steel marked with the crest of a kingdom I had never seen before.
One of them grabbed my arm roughly.
"Up."
My legs trembled as I stood.
I had not walked much since they brought me here.
Chains clinked softly as they pulled me toward the doorway.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked quietly.
Neither man answered.
The corridor outside the dungeon was crowded with soldiers. Some leaned against the stone walls, others marched past in groups, their voices echoing through the halls.
But these were not my kingdom's soldiers.
My father's banners had been torn down.
New ones hung in their place.
Dark banners.
Foreign banners.
My chest tightened.
The palace I had grown up in looked different now.
Broken doors.
Cracked marble.
Bloodstains that servants had not yet had time to scrub away.
We climbed a long staircase.
With every step, my heart beat harder.
I knew where they were taking me.
The throne room.
The great doors loomed ahead, tall and carved with the history of my kingdom.
Or what used to be my kingdom.
The guards pushed the doors open.
Sunlight flooded the room.
The throne stood at the far end of the hall, raised above the marble floor on its familiar platform.
But the man sitting on it was not my father.
I stopped walking.
The guards forced me forward.
"On your knees."
My legs buckled as they forced me down beside a row of prisoners already kneeling on the floor.
My breath caught.
My father, the king, knelt with his hands bound behind his back.
Beside him was the queen, my stepmother, her once perfect gown torn and stained.
Next to her were the princes.
The Crown Prince stared forward, jaw tight with fury.
The second prince looked pale but defiant.
The youngest prince… looked tired.
And afraid.
But he did not look away when I was forced beside them.
For a moment, our eyes met.
Then he lowered his gaze.
I turned my attention to the throne.
Someone sat there.
Not my father.
A man in dark armor rested easily against the back of the throne, one arm draped across its carved armrest as though he had owned it his entire life.
His presence filled the room.
The soldiers stood straighter around him.
Even the air seemed heavier.
General Kael.
The man whose name had frightened the kingdom's council.
He studied the prisoners before him calmly.
Like a hunter examining captured prey.
"So," he said at last. His voice was quiet, but it carried easily across the room.
"This is the royal family."
A soldier stepped forward.
"Yes, General."
Kael's gaze moved slowly across the line of kneeling prisoners.
The king.
The queen.
The princes.
Then his eyes stopped.
On me.
His brow furrowed slightly.
"Interesting."
I lowered my gaze, trying to look as small and unimportant as possible.
But the damage had already been done.
"Who is that one?" Kael asked.
One of the soldiers stepped closer to me, gripping my arm and pulling me roughly upright.
"She was found hiding in the palace, General."
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
His gaze studied my face carefully.
Then my hair.
Then my eyes.
Black hair.
Blue eyes.
The royal traits.
A quiet murmur moved through the soldiers.
Kael leaned forward slightly on the throne.
"She does not look like a servant."
The soldier shrugged.
"We were not told who she was."
Kael's gaze shifted toward the king.
"Perhaps His Majesty would like to explain."
The room fell silent.
The king lifted his head slowly.
"You have already taken my kingdom," he said coldly.
"What more do you want?"
Kael's expression did not change.
"Answers."
His gaze returned to me again.
"Start with her."
My stomach twisted.
The soldiers forced me back down onto my knees beside the others.
The Crown Prince glanced at me briefly, his expression tightening.
The second prince looked confused.
But the youngest prince…
He looked worried.
Very worried.
Kael rose from the throne slowly.
His boots echoed against the marble floor as he stepped down from the platform.
Each step felt deliberate.
Controlled.
He stopped directly in front of us, his gaze lingered on me for a long moment.
Then he tilted his head slightly.
"Interesting," Kael said quietly. "A girl dressed like a servant… yet she bears the royal features of this kingdom."
A murmur moved through the soldiers standing along the walls.
Black hair.
Blue eyes.
The unmistakable traits of my father's bloodline.
My heart pounded in my chest.
Kael's attention shifted slowly past me, toward my father on the throne.
"Well?" he asked. The single word echoed through the throne room.
No one spoke.
My father lifted his chin, meeting Kael's gaze with quiet defiance.
"She is nothing," he said coldly. My breath caught.
Beside me, the queen remained silent.
The Crown Prince's jaw tightened.
The second prince stared straight ahead.
Only the youngest prince looked toward me, shock flickering across his face.
Kael did not look convinced.
For a moment, he simply studied my face.
Then a gloved hand reached forward and lifted my chin.
Not gently.
But not cruelly either.
Just enough to force me to look at him.
His eyes were sharp.
Calculating.
"Nothing?" he repeated quietly. His gaze flicked briefly toward my father again.
"She shares your features." Silence filled the room.
My father did not respond.
Kael's grip tightened slightly.
"Who is she?" he asked.
The question was calm.
But the threat beneath it was unmistakable.
When my father remained silent, Kael released my chin and straightened.
"Very well," he said. He turned slightly toward the soldiers.
"Perhaps one of the princes would like to answer instead."
The Crown Prince stiffened.
The second prince glared at the floor.
The youngest prince shifted uneasily.
Finally, my father spoke.
His voice was tight.
"She is my daughter."
The words seemed to hang in the air.
A ripple of surprise moved through the soldiers.
Kael's expression did not change.
"Your daughter," he repeated slowly. His gaze returned to me again.
"Strange that no one mentioned her."
"She is not the queen's child," my father said sharply.
"She is the daughter of a concubine."
The queen's lips pressed together with quiet disgust.
Kael considered this for a moment.
Then he gave a small, thoughtful nod.
"I see."
He turned away and began pacing slowly across the marble floor.
"A hidden princess." He stopped.
Then looked back at my father.
"And yet she was dressed like a servant when we found her."
My father said nothing.
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, unexpectedly, my father spoke again.
"I can give you something you want" he said carefully, "there may still be a way to reach an agreement."
The soldiers shifted slightly.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"An agreement?"
My father gestured toward me.
"She is of royal blood," he said.
"You have conquered my kingdom."
"But a marriage alliance could secure your claim."
The meaning of his words settled over the room like a storm cloud.
My stomach dropped.
My father continued.
"Take her as your wife."
"Spare my family… and the city."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Kael stared at him for a long moment.
Then his gaze slowly moved to me again.
His expression was impossible to read.
"Your daughter," he said quietly. "And you offer her so easily."
My father's jaw tightened. "She is still of royal blood."
Kael's eyes held mine.
And for the first time since the war began…
I felt truly afraid of what might happen next.