SELIN'S POV.
I hummed under my breath as I scrubbed the already spotless marble table for the third time. Not because it needed it, but because it gave me something to do besides think.
The Alpha King's chambers were too quiet. Too grand. Every flicker of the golden sconces reminded me I didn't belong here. The air itself smelled too clean, like cedar smoke and iron, a scent I was starting to associate with him.
I paused, wiping my palms on the apron they'd shoved at me earlier. "Well, Selin," I muttered under my breath, "day two and you haven't died yet. That's a win."
"Talking to yourself again, human?"
The voice came from the doorway. A maid stood there, older, sharp-eyed, with her gray hair pinned tight under a veil. I didn't recognize her, but she carried herself like someone used to being obeyed.
I straightened a little. "Um…maybe. Depends who's asking."
She didn't smile. "Someone wishes to see you. You are to come at once."
"Me?" I blinked. "Who?"
"The head mistress. She's outside the main corridor. Waiting."
I hesitated. Outside the chambers? I remembered what the Alpha King had said this morning: 'Don't leave these rooms.' It wasn't a request.
Still, the maid was watching me expectantly. The last thing I needed was to start another rumor about the "disobedient human."
"Right. Okay," I said quickly, setting down the cloth. "Just—I'll be right back."
The corridors beyond the chambers were cooler, and darker. The candles along the stone walls flickered faintly, making the shadows seem to shift and breathe. Every step echoed too loudly.
I wrapped my arms around myself. "This is fine. Totally fine. Just walking into the creepy hallway alone. Nothing weird about that," I muttered.
I walked further. Past the pillars. Past the tapestries that looked older than my entire village. But the longer I went, the quieter it became. No footsteps ahead. No voices. Just the whisper of my own breath.
I stopped. Something wasn't right.
"Hello?" I called softly. "Head mistress?"
There was silence. The air behind me changed—a subtle shift, like the air being displaced. Every hair on my neck stood on end. Someone was there. Watching.
I turned sharply, heart pounding, and that's when something hard and cold slammed into the side of my head. Pain burst behind my eyes. The corridor spun. I tried to cry out, but the sound caught in my throat. The last thing I saw was a shadow moving toward me…tall, cloaked, silent, before the world slipped away into black.
***
At first, I thought I was underwater. Everything sounded muffled, the thrum of voices, the steady pulse in my head, the faint sting in my temples. Then I opened my eyes.
A dim red glow filled the room, shadows twisting along the walls. The air smelled of incense and metal. I wasn't in the chambers anymore. I was lying on a cold slab, stone maybe, covered with runes that pulsed faintly beneath my skin. Panic licked up my spine.
A woman's voice murmured softly nearby, rhythmic and sharp, each word slicing through the silence like a blade.
"Ar'me valen…shura ve'ra…"
The sound made my skin crawl. I blinked slowly. Everything was blurred, colors bleeding into shadows. A fire burned somewhere to my right, its glow catching on silver bowls, black stones, and lines drawn on the floor that pulsed faintly like veins of light. Panic flared.
"Wh—what's happening?" My voice came out hoarse, trembling. "Where am I?"
The chanting stopped. A second voice, deeper, smooth and cold, cut through the air. "She's awake."
Footsteps approached slowly. When the figure stepped into view, I almost wished I hadn't opened my eyes. A woman stood there, tall, regal, and terrifying. Her gown shimmered like black oil under the firelight, and her hair was a fall of pale silver. Her eyes, gods, her eyes were the same color as his. Cold. Piercing. Inhuman.
"Is it done?" She asked.
"Almost, my queen," said the hooded figure. "I'm checking for traces now."
My heart stuttered. My queen? The king's mother. It had to be.
She stared down at me with an expression that could have frozen the sun. "So this," she said softly, "is the little human my son risked his crown for."
"My Queen," another male, rasping, and deferential voice said, "looking at it, I think she's no harm. I can't detect anything that shows she's not human."
I struggled against the ropes, my heart slamming against my ribs. "Wait…please, I didn't do anything,"
"Quiet."
The single word came out like a command the world itself had to obey. My voice broke off instantly, like the air had been sucked from my lungs.
The Queen moved closer, circling me slowly. "He hides you," she murmured. "Brings you into my halls. Protects you. Why?"
"I—I don't know—"
Her hand shot out, gripping my chin hard enough to bruise. Her skin was icy, her nails sharp against my skin. "Don't lie to me, girl. You think I don't see what you are?"
"I'm just—just a villager!" I stammered. "He brought me back…because of the flood, please, I swear I'm no one!"
Her gaze darkened. "No one," she repeated softly. "And yet my son defies his council, his blood, his curse…for no one?"
"I don't know what you're talking about—"
A loud crack split the air. Pain flared across my cheek…she'd slapped me. Hard. My head snapped to the side, the taste of blood filling my mouth.
The chanting voice spoke again, hesitant now. "My Queen, forgive me, but the wards show nothing. Her pulse, her breath, her scent, all human. She has no markings, no essence that links her to the curse."
The Queen didn't look away from me. "You are certain?"
"Yes, my Queen."
Silence fell over the room.
Then she smiled, and it was the coldest thing I'd ever seen. "Perhaps the curse hides itself well. Perhaps it burrows deeper."
I felt the air shift. The temperature dropped, the fire flickering violently as a sudden rush of power moved through the room. The healer, or whatever he was, hesitated.
"My Queen…?"
Her eyes gleamed like the edge of a blade. "Open her."
I froze. "Wh—what?"
"Cut her open," she said, her tone almost lazy, almost bored. "If she is truly human, then her body will tell us. And if she is not—" her gaze lingered on me, burning, "then perhaps my son's foolishness will end itself."
The man stepped back, horrified. "My Queen, I—I cannot—"
"Do it."
The ropes tightened on their own. I gasped, thrashing against them, but something unseen coiled around my wrists and ankles, forcing me still. Panic rose like bile.
"Please!" I screamed. "Don't…don't do this! I swear I'm human, please!"
The Queen tilted her head. "Then you have nothing to fear."
I tried to move, to fight, but the invisible force only grew tighter. The firelight shimmered off a long, curved blade the man lifted reluctantly from the table. My heart hammered so loud I could barely hear.
Tears burned my eyes. "Please," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Please don't—"
The Queen said nothing. The man raised the knife. And just before the blade touched my skin, the torches in the room blew out all at once. Darkness took over.
A deep, inhuman growl echoed through the chamber, so powerful it rattled the very walls. The ground trembled under me. The Queen turned sharply, her expression twisting with fury. But I couldn't see what happened next. All I knew was that something…or someone, had come for me.
And the sound that filled the darkness wasn't human at all.