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Annalise

E verything hurts. Everything always hurts. But now, everything hurts even worse. I’ve pushed Cyrus before in the past, but I’ve never seen him the way he was last night. How did I get here? How did I go from being a slave to being the key point of Cyrus’s obsession? The beast king.

I flinch, sitting up in bed. It’s been an entire day. The sun has begun to set in the distance and yet, Cyrus hasn’t returned. And I have been forbidden from leaving. A pained moan leaves my lips as I hunch over. My body has yet to recover from our night together. Even my inner walls are raw from Cyrus’s ravenous desire. Last night felt different, though. Something in him changed. There was no enjoyment on his end, only hate.

I drop my head in my hands, letting my tears fall.

Elias was right.

Cyrus can dress me up all he likes, but I am only human. I am not a beast that can take the beatings of men and remain powerful. I cannot take life by changing my form, and I cannot back my words with strength. I am exhausted. Living like this is a fate worse than when I was a slave. I don’t know how to live in a world of beasts.

Up until Cyrus tracked me down, I wasn’t going to raise my son as a beast.

I never should have had Ciel, nor should I have taken on the challenge of being a queen. I should have let Cyrus take him and raise him without me in his life. I don’t understand the beasts, and I never will. I will never be seen as one of them, nor will I be able to live with a clear conscience knowing how Cyrus’s kingdom treats my own. My life has become a paradox I can’t survive in.

At one point, my only motivation in life was survival. I didn’t have the luxury of caring about other humans, especially when they were all so evil to me. But now that I have lived in a world across the ocean and seen life, my perspective has changed. Humans exist. And Cyrus cannot just rid us of a way of life because he dislikes what we are.

But I have no control over that. And because of my rash actions, I have lost my son and Cyrus’s ear.

I was never meant for this. I was never meant for more than marrying Dimitri and eventually dying at the hands of a beast. I was never meant to hold the heart of a beast. Up until the day I met Cyrus, I didn’t even know what a beast was capable of. I still don’t have a full grasp of it.

I hear muffled greetings on the other side of the door, and I no longer feel inclined to hide my heart rate. Cyrus was right. False bravery does not suit me. The door to Cyrus’s chamber opens, and Cyrus enters with an irritated expression on his face. I clench the sheets tighter to my chest, sliding to the floor as I bow in greeting.

“Your Majesty—”

I barely have the words out. Cyrus yanks me off the ground, his eyes fully sharpened into the demonic version of themselves as his beast takes over. He glares at me for what feels like an eternity, evoking all of my fear.

“You get your wish. You’re leaving the palace,” he snaps.

He drops me, making his way through the chambers, grabbing a robe.

“What wish? Where are you sending me?” I ask in a shaky whisper.

Cyrus keeps his back to me, and I can tell by the way he trembles he’s fighting for control. He tosses the robe to me, watching me tie it around myself as he speaks.

“You are no longer in line for the throne. I’m sending you to the mountainside, where you will remain out of my sight. And I will marry a more suitable bride.”

My eyes widen. This was only my wish if Ciel was coming with me. But judging from the way he speaks, I don’t think he is offering to send Ciel.

“And Ciel?” I whisper.

Cyrus is silent for a moment, turning to face me.

“He will be raised by the new queen. He will still remain first in line to the throne. And he will eventually forget who you are, wholly embracing his beast side,” he says coldly.

The breath feels like it’s been knocked from my lungs as I look at Cyrus. His expression is cold as he studies my reaction. My legs give out, and I fall to my knees, tears spilling down my cheeks as I look at him. But I see no sympathy in his gaze.

“Cyrus… don’t do this,” I whisper.

Cyrus kneels to my height, pinching my chin between his fingers. His gaze is intense as he locks me in place.

“Didn’t I tell you never to use my name?”

I gasp softly at his words, and he roughly shoves me back, standing over me.

“You made your decision. Don’t act as if you care for him. You care more for humans than beasts. And that is what he is, Annalise, whether you like it or not. I will no longer put my kingdom in jeopardy because of you. I gave you a chance, and you have failed,” he says.

Cyrus turns away from me, and my instincts take over. I crawl forward on my knees, grabbing ahold of the fabric of his clothes.

“Please, please don’t! I swear I’ll never speak out again. I’ll never do for a human again! I won’t let it control me, and I will always put the beasts first! I swear I will put you and Ciel and this entire kingdom first,” I plead.

I can barely see Cyrus through my tear-streaked vision. I drop my head, my sobs wracking my body violently. Cyrus rips the fabric of his clothing from my fingers, and I fall onto the floor. When I look up, he is standing with his back to me.

“Your Majesty, please. He is my life. He is the air that I breathe. Without him, I am nothing. I am begging you, please… don’t do this,” I sob.

Cyrus turns to look at me. His gaze is narrowed and I see no compassion there.

“The way you feel about him is how he feels about you. And because of your selfish decision, you killed that piece of him.” Cyrus shakes his head, turning away from me. “You were a mistake, Anna. I should have killed you the day I saw you by the river. But from that day, I let my desire cloud my duty. I will no longer do that.”

Cyrus looks at me, his deep gaze confused as he studies me.

“You will not control me any longer,” he says.

Cyrus doesn’t speak as he moves to the door, pulling it open.

“Take her.”

My eyes widen, and I look at Cyrus in shock, but he won’t look at me as the guards step into the room. I step back in panic, and desperation washes over me.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. I make my way to Cyrus in rage, reaching for him when someone snatches me around the waist.

“No!” I scream, clawing at the air.

I throw my head back, my skull connecting with the nose of a guard as another reaches for me, but in my haste, I use Cyrus’s seal. Heat surges through me as power rushes through my blood.

I pull the guard, whose hand is around my waist, snapping the bone with ease as Cyrus’s power fills my body. Cyrus watches me with a dark expression as I sprint across the room, grabbing a fist full of his shirt. His hand immediately clasps over mine, and I can feel him squeezing. If I weren’t using his seal, my wrist would have broken by now.

“Your Majesty!”

Cyrus holds his hand out, stopping the beasts as he focuses on me.

“Do you really want to fight me using my own seal, Annalise?” he says.

I flinch as the heat of the seal intensifies, turning to searing pain. My legs slowly grow numb as the power becomes too much. Cyrus’s gaze narrows as he watches me, his irritation shining through.

“I have been nothing but loyal to you. I have let you have your way with me. I have bent to your will, Cyrus. Do not punish me like this. Do not do this to me. If you do this, I will never be the same,” I whisper.

Cyrus’s expression shifts, and to my shock, he rears his head back, smashing it into mine. I cry out as the sound of my skull cracking fills the room. Blood trickles down my forehead, splattering onto the floor, the room spinning as my brain tries to comprehend what happened. All the while, the seal continues to heat up.

Cyrus rips me up from the ground, and this time, he squeezes my wrist hard enough to shatter the bone. My scream fills the chamber, but the pain in my arm disappears almost instantaneously as the heat of Cyrus’s seal becomes unbearable. Cyrus easily throws me across the room, and I cry out in pain as I hit the floor, the seal feeling as if it is burning my flesh.

“Nghh, Ah!” I groan in pain, unable to do anything as he comes near me, the darkness of his beast pouring from his skin.

“Regardless of what I do, you will not be the same once you leave my chambers.”