The mark burned.
That was the first thing Lyra noticed.
A faint glow still lingered on her wrist, pulsing softly beneath her skin-like something alive, something aware. Every time her heartbeat quickened, the mark responded.
She hated it.
Hated how it felt like something had been forced onto her.
Something she didn't choose.
Something that tied her....
To him.
Lyra stood in the middle of the chamber they had
prepared.
Their chamber.
The thought alone made her expression darken.
The room was far larger than the one she had been given before-richer, darker, more... intimate. One bed. One space. One expectation.
She didn't sit.
Didn't move.
She simply waited.
The door opened.
Kael walked in.
Silence followed him.
Heavy. Cold. Controlled.
He didn't look at her immediately. His gaze swept the room once, as if confirming something, before finally landing on her.
Standing.
Still in her wedding attire.
Unmoving.
"...You're still here," he said flatly.
Lyra let out a quiet breath.
"Unfortunately."
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
The mark on his wrist flickered faintly.
He ignored it.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Straight to the point.
No patience.
No interest.
Lyra met his gaze.
↓
"I won't stay here."
The words were calm.
Clear.
Final.
A pause.
Then-
Kael laughed.
Low.
Sharp.
"You don't get to make that decision."
Lyra didn't react.
"I already have.
Silence snapped between them.
Kael took a step forward.
Then another.
Slow.
Dangerous.
"You seem to be forgetting something," he said, his voice dropping. "You are in my kingdom.
Under my rule."
Lyra's chin lifted slightly.
"And you seem to be forgetting," she replied, "this marriage was never yours to control."
His eyes darkened.
"The moment you stepped into that hall," he said coldly, "you became my responsibility."
Lyra's lips curved faintly.
"Responsibility?" she repeated.
Then-
Her voice sharpened.
"No."
She took a step closer.
Matching his presence.
"I am your burden."
The words hit harder than expected.
Kael's expression didn't change.
But something in his gaze shifted.
Darkened.
↓
"And I refuse," Lyra continued, her voice steady
but laced with something colder, "to share a
room with a creature I can barely stand to look
at."
Silence.
Heavy.
Deadly.
The mark on Kael's wrist flared.
His hand clenched into a fist.
"Careful," he said quietly.
But Lyra didn't stop.
Of course she didn't.
"I agreed to this marriage for my kingdom," she
said. "Not for you."
Her eyes locked onto his.
Sharp.
"You think I don't know what you are?" she added. "A beast pretending to be a king. Living off instinct, power, and blood."
Each word was deliberate.
Cutting.
"And now I'm expected to stand beside you?" she scoffed softly. "To share your space? Your life?"
A pause.
Then-
Her voice dropped.
Lower.
Colder.
"I would rather sleep on the ground than in the same room as you."
The words echoed.
And this time-
They didn't just sting.
They burned.
Something snapped.
Kael moved.
Fast.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her, his hand gripping her wrist tightly-the one with the mark.
Lyra gasped slightly, caught off guard by the sudden force.
His grip wasn't gentle.
But it wasn't uncontrolled either.
It was restrained.
Barely.
"Say that again," he said.
His voice was low.
Dangerously calm.
Lyra's breath hitched for just a second.
Just one.
But she didn't look away.
Didn't back down.
"I said," she repeated, her voice quieter now but no less sharp, "I would rather sleep anywhere than near you."
The mark between them flared violently.
Pain shot through her wrist.
Lyra flinched.
Kael felt it too.
But instead of letting go-
His grip tightened.
His eyes burned.
"Then do it," he said coldly.
Lyra froze.
Kael's gaze dropped briefly to the mark.
Then back to her.
His expression-
Gone.
Empty.
Cold.
Completely shut off.
"Sleep on the floor. Leave the room. I don't care," he said. "You are nothing more than a means to an end."
The words were sharp.
Precise.
Deliberate.
"If you think I have any interest in sharing a space with a fragile human," he added, "you're mistaken."
Lyra's chest tightened slightly.
But her expression didn't change.
Good.
That's how it should be.
Distance.
Hate.
Clear lines.
Kael released her wrist abruptly.
The loss of contact felt... strange.
But neither acknowledged it.
Lyra stared at his back.
Her hand slowly moved to her wrist, where the mark still pulsed faintly.
Her jaw tightened.
"...We'll see how long that lasts."
Kael didn't respond.
Didn't turn.
Didn't care.
Or at least-
That's what he made it look like.
That night-
Lyra didn't sleep on the bed.
She took a blanket.
And sat near the window.
Far from him.
Far from the bond.
Far from everything.
And Kael-
Didn't stop her.
Didn't look at her.
Didn't speak.
But long after the room fell silent-
His eyes opened in the dark.
And for the first time-
The mark on his wrist didn't feel like just a curse.
It felt like something far more dangerous.
Something he needed to destroy-