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I have recently learnt quite a bit about valkyrians.

Their princess is not in fact royalty, as it does not exist in their kingdom.

They choose the warrior that shall become their queen and after some years, a new heir is chosen by the others to become the queen’s successor.

They claim it is the only way to make sure that corruption does not make it to power and that every single valkyrian can feel heard.

The Council is similar because they were chosen and voted in by witches and warlocks.

However, throughout the years I have witnessed how corrupted it has become.

Successors are chosen by existing members, which leads to family being selected, sons and daughters instead of perhaps, more qualified choices.

And yes, you have to go through training and the Council has to agree, but it still feels wrong.

I will be on the Council because my mother is a member on it.

Not because the witches and warlocks from my kingdom chose me.

I have worked hard, but who is to say another wouldn’t work harder?

I am determined to become part of the Council.

So I can destroy it from within.

Tabitha Wysteria

‘I thought I might find you here.’ Haven’s voice drifted through the swaying grasses, quiet but unwavering.

Mal did not turn immediately. She remained kneeling in the shadow of her lonely tree, hands trembling, dirt pressed into her palms from where she had buried yet another offering.

Three days. Three days spent kneeling before the gods, pleading.

Three days spent whispering Nyx’s name into the soil as if the earth might take pity on her grief and return what had been stolen.

One night, she had collapsed from exhaustion, her body curling into the grass like she was no more than a wilting flower. When she awoke, Kai had been there, sitting in silence, watching over her, keeping the night at bay.

She lifted her head now, sluggish, like a creature roused from deep slumber. Her body felt hollow. Her soul—something worse.

She turned, shifting to sit with her knees drawn up, squinting against the sunlight as it framed her sister’s face in gold. Haven’s features were tight, her black eyes dark with the kind of sorrow only a wyverian could truly understand.

The grief of losing a beast. A part of one’s own soul.

‘Ash is awake.’

Mal’s breath stilled.

‘Is he all right?’ How many times had she sat by his side, watching, waiting, willing him to wake? She had come here with the intent of ending his life, and yet… Now, the thought of losing him was unbearable. ‘I must see him immediately.’

She pushed to her feet too quickly, but Haven caught her by the wrist before she could flee. ‘We need to talk.’ Haven’s voice was gentle, but firm. ‘You have been avoiding us.’

‘No. I have been praying and looking after my husband.’

Haven’s black eyes slit. ‘Mal .’

Mal swallowed. She did not want to have this conversation. She turned to walk past her sister, ignoring the ringing in her ears, but then—

‘You shadow-walked.’

Mal froze.

Haven’s words struck like a dagger.

Mal did not move. She could feel the weight of Haven’s gaze boring into her, could feel the heat creeping up her neck.

‘You moved witches across a field with your mind, Mal.’

‘Who told you?’

Haven sighed. ‘You really want to keep secrets from me? Kai knows. Kage knows.’

‘So Kage told you.’

‘It should not matter who told me. All I know is that it was not you .’

Slowly, Mal turned to face her sister. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Did you know?’

The weight of the question settled in Mal’s chest like a stone. Did she know? She had known she was different . Had known there was something lurking within her, something she had tried to bury, ignore, pretend away.

But to wield it? To command it like she had in battle?

‘Yes, no.’ Mal ran a hand through her tangled hair. ‘I knew I had powers but…Not the extent of them.’

Haven inhaled sharply, glancing at the sky as if seeking patience from the gods.

‘Why did you agree to marry the prince?’ she finally asked, voice soft, but there was an ache behind it, a sadness that cut deeper than any blade. ‘Was it truly to unify the kingdoms or was there more to it that you have kept from me?’

Mal’s stomach twisted. She felt like a child again, being scolded, her excuses crumbling before she could even form them.

Her powers had awoken something monstrous within her, but losing Nyx—almost losing Ash—had left her feeling like nothing at all.

A hollowed-out thing. A sad mess with nothing left but sorrow and failure.

‘It was to kill him. ’

Haven’s entire body went rigid. ‘Because of the curse.’

Mal nodded.

Her sister exhaled sharply, her fingers tightening into fists.

Coiled elegantly about her throat like a living pendant, the shadow-serpent stirred, its eyes blinking open the moment it sensed its mistress’s unease.

Twin pools of darkness fixed upon Mal with quiet intensity—but she refused to meet their gaze, choosing instead to disregard the creature’s silent vigilance.

‘Mal… did you ever stop to think about what would happen? About the consequences of murdering the Fire Prince?’ She was pacing now, her dark skirts sweeping through the fallen leaves.

‘I am to be Queen of the Kingdom of Darkness. The very kingdom that once broke an oath marriage and ignited the Great War. Can you even imagine the devastation if you had actually gone through with it?’ She shot a glance around them, voice lowering.

‘If you had killed him, do you know what they would have done to me? To Kai? To Kage?’

Mal squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I never attempted it.’

‘Not yet.’

Mal clenched her fists. ‘I was missing the dagger.’

‘Mal, listen to yourself!’ Haven’s voice rose, sharp and laced with frustration.

‘I have been trying to gain alliances, to make friends for our future. And this entire time you have been plotting to kill your husband. What if you had done it? What would have happened to me? Was your entire plan to murder him and then vanish? Did you stop to think about Kai, Kage or me. What we would have had to deal with?’

‘No, but—’

‘You could have told me, Mal. You should have told me from the beginning what your plans were.’

‘I tried! ’ Mal’s voice cracked. ‘I tried warning everyone about the curse and no one believed me. Even now you mock the concept of such a thing. But the same was said about the witches and look . They are coming for us, Haven.’

Silence stretched between them, heavy as the weight of history itself.

‘Perhaps they should.’

Haven turned a ring around her finger absently, lost in thought. Mal’s own fingers were bare. A reminder that she was fourthborn, an anomaly, an error in history.

A fourthborn had never existed before. Therefore, no ring had ever been made for one.

‘No one has ever been able to shadow-walk.’

Except for the first wyverian king, or so the tales whispered.

Mal shrugged. ‘Let’s add it to the list of my peculiarities.’

‘If the witches are planning to start a war, our parents must be informed.’ Haven turned then, striding towards the castle.

Mal hesitated before following. Something about the way Haven moved—so sure, so resolute—made her stomach churn.

‘There is no true need for me to stay here, sister. I wished to in order to keep you company, but this is more important. Kage will stay here with you for now. I will have Kai travel with me back home.’

‘Haven, no.’ Mal grabbed her sister’s arm, holding her still. ‘To get home you must travel across the wastelands. It is far too dangerous.’

‘Perhaps that is what they want. They want us here contained, Mal. But for what purpose? They could easily try to attack the other kingdoms and we would be none the wiser. I must try.’ She kissed her sister’s cheek. ‘Once I am home I will send you a letter and we will talk again. I promise.’

Mal was unsure of such a promise but did not express it.

Deep down she wondered if her sister would write at all.

…

Ash turned sharply at the commotion beyond the door, his heart hammering against his ribs at the mere thought of Mal standing on the other side.

Alina exhaled in exasperation, gesturing for the servants to block entry before even asking who had come to see the prince. She had given strict orders—no one was to enter without her permission.

Before the maids could obey, the double doors slammed open, shaking the room with the force of Mal’s entrance. She stormed in, a tempest of fury and defiance, her purple eyes flashing like a midnight storm.

The wyverian princess barely spared Alina a glance before barking at the maids to leave. They fled without hesitation.

‘He needs to rest,’ Alina snapped, standing up.

Mal ignored her entirely, her gaze locked solely on Ash. The moment her eyes found him, everything else vanished.

She strode to the enormous bed, climbing onto it without hesitation, crawling forward like a huntress moving in for the kill. And then—before Ash could even open his mouth, before he could even think—she was on him, her hands cupping his face, her skin pressed against his own.

And just like that, the world ceased to exist.

There was only Mal.

His Mal.

‘His entire torso is bruised and he has two broken ribs,’ Alina scolded, her voice strained with irritation. ‘You cannot sit on him like that.’

Mal’s gaze flicked to her, a slow and deliberate glance, like a wolf assessing an insect. Her lips curved—not in amusement, but in something dangerous, something edged with dark amusement. ‘He is my husband. I shall sit on him however pleases me.’

Ash placed his hands over hers, attempting to soothe the tension coiling in the room. He had no interest in watching the two women snap at each other like territorial creatures.

‘Alina, I’m sorry. Thank you for e-everything,’ he said.

Mal grunted a quick, ‘Yes, thank you .’

‘So now I’m dismissed?’ Alina’s lips parted in disbelief. ‘Like a servant ?’