The silence of the castle feels different since I awoke.Once, it was only the distant echo of footsteps that ignored my existence. Now it's a constant murmur: whispers, furtive glances, rumors trailing me like shadows.Some call me a monster. Others, a miracle.I still don't know what I am.
What I do know is that my life is no longer mine alone.And that suffocates me.
My mother, Lirae.The only one who ever protected me, even from the shadows. In her eyes I never saw contempt, only sorrow.Now I understand why: she knew this day would come.I love her, but it hurts that she hid so much from me. How much did she know of my hybrid destiny? How much of my suffering could she have spared me?And yet… if I'm still standing today, it's because she never fully let me go.Perhaps her silence was another way of protecting me. Perhaps.
Selene Draemyr.A mystery I never expected. She barely spoke to me before, and now… she looks at me as if she's uncovered a forbidden secret.I can feel her attraction. I see it in her eyes, I hear it in her breath when she comes too close.And the worst part is, I feel it too.But every time she's near, my hunger stirs. Her blood beats like a drum, calling to me.Is what I feel for her desire… or just my vampiric instinct?I don't know. And it terrifies me to find out.
Kaelis Moura.With her there's no doubt: she hates me. She always has, and now more than ever. There's no fascination in her gaze, only distrust.And yet, when we fought in the training grounds, I saw something else in her. I saw respect.Even if she denies it, even if she hides it, she knows I'm no longer the weakling she despised.Kaelis is a sharpened blade: she cuts me with every word, but she also forces me to stay alert.Perhaps, of all of them, she's the one keeping my feet on the ground.
I breathe deeply, watching the shadows at my feet writhe like a reflection of my soul.Within this castle I am feared, watched, judged.And yet… for the first time, I am not invisible.
"Selene, Kaelis, Mother… what role will you play in what I become?"
The echo of my own voice vanishes into the room.I have no answer.
But one thing is certain: these chains that bind me no longer feel like prisons.Now they're bonds that will decide whether I'll be salvation… or damnation.