Page 39 of King of Flames and Shadows

It happens one evening in the courtyard.

The commotion reaches me before I see it—a clamor of raised voices, sharp and edged, cutting through the cool night air. My heart pounds, a dark pulse thrumming in my veins, a sense of dread winding itself tight in my gut.

I round the corner, my gaze locking onto the scene in the barracks courtyard: three of my guards encircling a lone figure. Calliope. Her arm is twisted up in the grip of one of the men, his thick fingers biting into her flesh. The others flank her, smirking, their postures easy and arrogant.

“Let go of me,” she demands, her voice steady but taut, her chin held high, though I can see the strain in her shoulders, the set of her jaw.

“Let go of you?” The guard sneers, his mouth twisting as he leans closer, close enough for his hot breath to brush her cheek. “A little stray like you? You’re lucky we don’t toss you in the dungeons for wandering where you don’t belong.”

A sharp, dark anger boils up in me, sudden and all-consuming. In one heartbeat, I’m striding forward; in the next, my vision has narrowed to that single guard, and the way his fingers dig into her skin, like she’s some possession he can manhandle at will.

“Release her.”My voice cuts through the air like a knife.

The guards flinch, turning as one. Their expressions shift from annoyance to pure shock, fear, eyes widening as I approach, fists clenched. The one holding her lets go, but it’s already far too late.

“Y-Your Majesty,” he stammers, stumbling backward, hands raised in surrender. But I don’t stop. I reach for him, gripping his throat, feeling his pulse hammering wildly beneath my fingers. He’s choking, eyes bulging as I lift him off the ground with one hand, claws pricking his skin.

“You will never,” I snarl, my voice low and lethal, “touch her again.” My grip tightens, my skin heating until he whimpers, his eyes squeezing shut, my anger a blazing storm. “If you so much as look at her wrong, I’ll rip you apart myself.”

I toss him aside, his body crumpling like paper as he hits the ground. My gaze swings to the other two, who stand frozen, eyes wide, fear and shame carved deep into their faces.

“Out,” I growl, my voice a command that vibrates through the cold stone walls. “Get out of my sight.”

They don’t hesitate, scrambling backward, stumbling over each other as they flee without looking back, disappearing into the shadows like rats scattering from the light.

As they vanish, I turn to Calliope.

She’s watching me, her wide eyes dark and unreadable, a faint, rapid breath fogging the air between us. Her arm hangs by her side, fingers brushing against her skirts where bruises will soon bloom. Anger coils hotter inside me, mingling with a strange, reckless satisfaction I can’t shake.

“Are you all right?” I ask before I can stop myself, words tight in my throat.

She doesn’t answer, her gaze steady on mine. Her expression is hard, almost defiant, yet there’s no hint of fear there. No gratitude either—no relief. Only a flicker of something deeply comprehending, as if something is occurring to her for the first time.

“Why?” she whispers, her voice low, cracking in the cold. “Why did you do that?”

The question cleaves through me. Why did I do that? The answer blazes to the surface, primal and raw, threatening to tear free. I swallow, and words I hadn’t intended, words I hadn’t known I could say, pour out.

“You’re… you’re mine to break.”

But my own voice sounds unfamiliar even to my own ears, harsh and unyielding.

We both know something has resolutely shifted between us; I can’t hide it, I realise. Not from her.

I never knew what it might feel like to watch someone try to hurt her.

A stunned silence stretches. Her breath catches, and something unreadable flashes in her eyes—something fierce and stubborn. And still, she doesn’t look away, doesn’t flinch. There’s a storm gathering between us, a tension tightening the cold night air.

When she leaves, turning back toward the castle, I am compelled to follow.

Chapter 16 - Calliope

I’m still shaking when I step back into the cold shadows of the palace’s gloomy interior, my heart at a sharp pulse that refuses to calm. The memory of his hands around the guard’s throat—his voice, dark and lethal, filled with possessive fury—is burned into my mind.Because you’re mine.

I have been afraid many times in my life. Most of them recently. Still, nothing quite compares to this.

His furious words echo through me, unsettling, crawling over my skin like a hot, unwanted brand. I’ve been his prisoner all this time, but some part of me still refused to see his possession for what it was. Arvoren has made his claim, but the realization rattles me like nothing else ever has. I am his, body and soul. I cannot escape him.

Iwillnot escape him. This is the rest of my life. The image of his mother’s face flashes through my mind unbidden.

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