Page 10 of Her Fated Alpha Prince (Royal Dragons of Blackwater Islands #1)
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KAEL
The firelight flickered low in the hearth, casting long shadows across the stone walls of his chamber.
Kael sat rigid on the edge of a worn leather chair, fingers tapping a restless rhythm on his knee.
Outside, the wind whispered against the thick windowpanes, carrying with it the scent of rain and distant woodsmoke.
He had spent the better part of the evening replaying the meeting with Elder Varos in his mind—the cautious words, the barely veiled concern, the warning.
Ariana. The name tasted like ash on his tongue.
She was changing faster than anyone had predicted, and the consequences weren’t just unknown; they were dangerous.
His jaw clenched. She didn’t belong in this world—not like this. Not with the power stirring beneath her skin like a caged thing. Kael knew what that kind of power could do—how easily it could consume a person. And how many lives it could destroy along the way.
A sharp knock at the door broke his thoughts.
“Enter,” he said, voice low but steady.
The door creaked open, and a figure stepped inside—a man cloaked in midnight blue, face half-hidden beneath a hood. Kael’s eyes narrowed, muscles tightening.
“You’re late,” Kael said without looking up.
The man shrugged off his hood, revealing sharp features and eyes colder than the winter night outside. “I had to be careful. They’re watching more closely than we thought.”
Kael’s gaze snapped to him. “Who?”
“The outsiders. Those who want to control the balance.” The man’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They see what’s happening with her.”
Kael rose, pacing toward the window, hands clenched into fists. “Ariana is not a pawn.”
“Not yet,” the man said, stepping closer. “But if she awakens fully without guidance… chaos will follow. You know the stakes.”
Kael’s breath hitched. He did know. Too well. His past was littered with the ruins of those who underestimated forces far beyond their grasp.
“Why come to me now?” Kael asked, voice rough with tension.
“Because you’re her protector—for better or worse.” The man’s eyes held something unreadable. “And because they want to test your loyalty.”
Kael’s heart hammered. Loyalty was a fragile thing, easily broken. Especially when the lines between friend and enemy blurred like smoke in the dark.
He took a deep breath, forcing calm into his voice. “I will do what I must.”
The man inclined his head. “Good. Because the shadows are lengthening. And soon, you won’t have the luxury of hesitation.”
As the door shut behind the visitor, Kael returned to the hearth, the weight of his role pressing heavier on his shoulders. He looked toward the window once more, where the garden beyond lay shrouded in silver moonlight.
Ariana was out there somewhere—changing, growing, becoming something neither of them fully understood yet.
And Kael knew, with a certainty that made his blood run cold, that nothing would ever be the same again.
Kael’s eyes traced the silhouette of the garden beyond the window, where moonlight painted everything in ghostly hues.
The flowers—those strange blooms Ariana had mentioned—were shadows now, but their memory clung to his thoughts like smoke.
What was stirring in her? What power was she awakening, and what price would it demand?
His fingers drummed against the windowsill, impatience fraying his nerves.
He should be out there, watching over her, guarding her from threats that slipped like serpents through the night.
But every time he crossed that threshold, he risked more than his own safety.
He risked exposing her secrets to enemies lurking in the dark.
The room seemed suddenly colder, the shadows deeper. Kael swallowed the tightening knot in his throat. He hated feeling powerless. Yet here he was—watching, waiting, caught in a web he barely understood.
A soft creak from the hall jolted him. His body tensed instinctively, muscles coiling like springs. The door eased open, revealing Liora, his closest confidante, and the only person he trusted with the truth of his burden.
Her eyes met his, steady and calm. “She’s restless tonight,” Liora said quietly, stepping inside. “The changes are accelerating.”
Kael nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I saw the signs. The way the garden responded. The way the air shifted around her.”
Liora’s lips tightened. “It’s not just the power. It’s the attention she’s drawing. The watchers. They grow bolder.”
His jaw clenched. “We need to keep her safe. But every move we make risks pushing her closer to the edge.”
Liora approached the hearth, hands folded before her. “She’s fighting it, Kael. I can sense it. But something else fights within her too—the legacy she’s inherited.”
Kael’s gaze dropped to the flickering flames. “A legacy I swore to protect her from.”
“And yet, here you are,” Liora said softly, a trace of sorrow in her voice. “Tethered to her fate as much as she is to yours.”
He turned to her, frustration bleeding through his calm exterior. “There’s no room for doubt. Not when the stakes are this high.”
Liora stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You’ve seen what happens when power like hers goes unchecked. The destruction. The loss.”
Kael’s breath hitched. Memories surged—burning villages, broken families, promises shattered beneath the weight of ambition and fear. He had witnessed the fallout firsthand. And he wouldn’t let it happen again.
“We have to find a way to guide her,” Kael said, voice thick with resolve. “Before the shadows close in.”
Liora’s eyes searched his face, finding the vulnerability he rarely showed. “She needs to trust you. More than ever.”
Kael nodded slowly. “Then I’ll find her. Tonight. I can’t wait for fate to decide.”
The urgency in his voice was palpable. He grabbed his cloak from a nearby hook, the leather cool beneath his fingertips. Every instinct screamed at him to act—to reach Ariana before the unseen forces tangled their threads too tightly.
As he moved toward the door, Liora called after him, “Be careful, Kael. The line between protector and prisoner is thinner than you think.”
He paused, hand on the doorknob, and met her gaze. “I know. But I’ll cross it if I have to.”
The night swallowed him as he stepped into the corridor, heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination. Somewhere in the dark garden, Ariana waited—her fate, and theirs, hanging in precarious balance.
Kael moved swiftly down the stone corridor, each step measured but urgent.
The castle around him was silent, the usual hum of guards and servants replaced by a heavy stillness, as if the walls themselves held their breath.
Outside, the night was a cloak of shadows, the moon’s glow barely cutting through the thick canopy of the garden.
He reached the archway that led to Ariana’s chambers and hesitated.
The memory of her—vulnerable, fierce, unraveling—clung to his mind.
She was more than just a noble’s daughter.
She was a catalyst, a storm waiting to break.
And the deeper truth of her bloodline twisted around them both like a tightening noose.
The door creaked softly as he pushed it open. Inside, the room was bathed in silver light, the flowers Ariana had spoken of glowing faintly by the window. They pulsed with an otherworldly life, petals trembling as if breathing. Kael’s eyes darted around, searching.
Ariana sat on the edge of her bed, knees drawn close, staring into the shadows with wide, unblinking eyes. The parchment from “V” lay folded on her lap, her fingers tracing the edge absently. Her breath was shallow, the tension in her frame unmistakable.
“Kael,” she whispered, voice barely more than a breath.
He crossed the room quickly, lowering himself beside her. “You shouldn’t be alone,” he said softly. “Not tonight.”
Her gaze lifted, raw and uncertain. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. The dreams, the garden... the way things move around me. It’s like I’m becoming something else.”
Kael reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “You’re becoming who you were always meant to be. But you don’t have to face it alone.”
A flicker of fear crossed her eyes. “And if I lose control? If it’s too much?”
“Then I’ll be there to pull you back,” Kael said firmly. “Whatever comes, we face it together.”
The room seemed to exhale, the tension loosening just a fraction. Ariana’s lips curved into a faint, tired smile. “I don’t want to be a threat to anyone. Especially not to you.”
Kael shook his head. “You’re no threat. You’re a light. And sometimes, the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows.”
Ariana’s eyes searched his. “I feel like I’m breaking.”
“Breaking isn’t the end,” he said quietly. “It’s the beginning of something new. And sometimes, we have to break before we can be whole.”
Outside, the garden rustled softly, the strange flowers pulsing in time with their heartbeats. The night held its breath—waiting, watching.
Kael stayed with her until the first blush of dawn crept through the window, a silent promise between them. The war was far from over. But for now, there was a fragile peace.
And in that fragile peace, hope.