“You broke into my home and tried to take what belongs to me.”
Kael
The smell of wet dirt and dying leaves usually made me feel safe.
I loved the cold ground and the deep shadows of the forest.
I had hunted in these woods since I was a child.
I knew every tree and every path.
But tonight, the forest didn’t feel like home.
It felt like it was crushing me.
It had been four days.
Four days since I last touched Lena.
I could still feel where her hand had rested on my arm in the hallway.
That one touch had woken up a bond between us that I hadn’t felt in years.
I had spent those four days staying away from her on purpose.
I told myself I was protecting her from my curse, but I was wrong.
Tonight, the black veins under my skin were burning.
I gripped my sword so hard my fingers turned white.
“They’re close,” Riven whispered behind me.
“About three hundred yards. They have silver-wire traps.”
I didn’t answer.
I could already smell them.
They had that sharp, arrogant smell of men who thought they were the strongest things in the woods.
They were wrong.
We moved through the bushes, silent and steady.
Riven stayed just behind me.
We didn’t need to speak.
We had done this a thousand times before.
I saw the first man up ahead.
He was sitting in a dead oak tree, holding a bow with a silver arrow.
Before the curse, back when I could still change into a wolf, I would have covered that ground in a second.
I would have been a blur of fur and teeth.
Tonight, I was just a man.
But I was still an Ashvorne.
And my family was dangerous long before we ever became wolves.
I jumped forward.
I reached the tree before the hunter even saw me move.
I grabbed a branch and pulled myself up while dragging him down at the same time.
He hit the ground hard.
I could feel the thud in my hands.
I pinned him down before he could move.
My arm was against his throat.
I wanted him to see my eyes.
I wanted him to know he was about to die.
“Who gave you the map?” I asked.
My voice was low and cold.
He reached for a silver knife on his leg.
He tried to scream, but the trees muffled the noise.
“The King is just a shell,” he choked out.
Blood leaked from his mouth.
“The Council told us the beast was dead. They said the North Wing would be open.”
The North Wing.
Lena.
Something broke inside me.
The purple light behind my ribs turned into a bright fire.
My skin felt like it was burning.
They said the North Wing would be open.
I drove my sword into his heart.
I did it quickly because being slow is just another way of being cruel.
“Kael! Left!” Riven shouted.
Two more hunters stepped out from the trees with crossbows.
I didn’t run.
I walked straight toward them.
One arrow flew past my ear.
The second hit my shoulder, tearing through my leather armor.
It stung, but I didn’t stop.
I reached the first hunter and knocked him out with the end of his own crossbow.
I caught the second man by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
He kicked his boots in the air, trying to breathe.
“You thought you could touch her,” I said.
My voice sounded like a roar.
“You broke into my home and tried to take what belongs to me.”
I squeezed his throat until his body went limp.
Riven stepped out from the bushes.
He looked at the bodies, then at me.
He saw the purple glow coming through the rip in my shirt.
“Kael,” he said, trying to calm me down.
“It’s over. They’re dead.”
I dropped the body.
My hands were shaking from the rage.
The danger had been inside my own palace this whole time.
“Search them,” I ordered.
Riven moved quickly.
He found a piece of paper on the first hunter.
I walked over to look at it.
It was a map of my palace.
It showed where the guards moved and exactly how to get to the North Wing.
It was a direct path to Lena’s room.
It showed a key and a raven.
It was Haren’s seal.
The world went silent.
Haren was my father’s best friend.
He had known me since I was seven years old.
He had held me at my father’s funeral and told me I would be a great King.
I had spent all my time watching Lord Varen.
I thought a greedy man like Varen would be the one to betray me.
But Haren?
Was it just the Steward, or were he and Lord Varen in this together?
Did they share the secrets of my house just to destroy me?
“He sold her,” I said.
My voice was very quiet.
“Kael, we can’t be sure until…”
“He sold her, Riven.”
I stood there with blood on my hands.
I thought about the four days I spent staying away from Lena.
I thought I was protecting her.
But while I was hiding, Haren was drawing this map.
I knew a betrayal was coming, but I never thought it would be from someone we trusted so much.
I would find out the truth, and I would kill anyone involved.
I turned toward the palace.
Its towers looked like sharp teeth against the moon.
“Get the horses,” I said.
“We’re going back right now.”
“What about the Steward?” Riven asked.
“Haren has lived a long life,” I said, getting on my horse.
“It’s a shame his life has to end in the dirt.”
I kicked the horse into a gallop.
I didn’t care about the Council anymore.
I only thought about the room at the end of the hallway.
I thought about the door I told Lena to lock.
She felt safe because I told her she was.
I had been so busy protecting her from myself that I forgot to watch everyone else.
I rode even faster.
The palace gates appeared ahead, and they swung open before I even reached them.
They always did.
Hi everyone!
This chapter was a huge challenge for me because it’s my very first time writing a full action scene.
I tried my best to capture the raw energy and the “Ruthless King” side of Kael just as I imagined it.
I really hope you enjoyed the change of pace!
How did I do?
Let me know in the comments.
I’m learning as I go, and your support means the world to me!