00:00For two years, I was nothing but a rat in the walls of the Obsidian Keep.
00:06The castle belonged to Lord Kaelin, the Ash Wolf, a warlord so brutal,
00:13mothers in the southern provinces used his name to terrify their children into obedience.
00:19But to me, his fortress was the only thing keeping me alive.
00:24My uncle, Silas, burned my family alive to steal our lands.
00:30I was the only survivor.
00:32A 14-year-old girl who crawled through the ashes of her own home,
00:36ran north, and slipped into the ancient, forgotten servant passages of the enemy's castle.
00:42I became a ghost.
00:45But a ghost can't get revenge.
00:48Tonight, I didn't slip out of the walls to steal bread.
00:51I slipped into Kaelin's private study to steal a message from his desk.
00:56A letter I watched a raven drop off an hour ago, a letter bearing my uncle's wax seal.
01:03I broke the seal and read the words.
01:05My blood ran cold.
01:08Before I could turn back to the hidden panel, the heavy oak door slammed shut,
01:13the sound cracked like a whip.
01:15Lord Kaelin stood blocking the only exit.
01:19He didn't wear his armor, just a loose black tunic, but he looked larger than a mountain.
01:24His eyes, a piercing, unnatural gold, pinned me to the floor.
01:29The air dropped 10 degrees, thick with the scent of ozone and violence.
01:35You're losing your edge, little rat.
01:38Kaelin's voice was a low, lethal rumble that vibrated against my sternum.
01:43For two years, I let you live because a ghost who steals bread is harmless.
01:48But stealing my intelligence?
01:50That is a death sentence.
01:52He closed the distance between us with the silent grace of an apex predator,
01:56slamming his hand against the wall right next to my head, caging me in.
02:00The heat radiating from his massive frame was suffocating.
02:03I didn't cower.
02:05I couldn't.
02:07My heart battered against my ribs, but my fingers tightened around the parchment.
02:11If you kill me, you die tomorrow.
02:13I breathed, forcing myself to meet his terrifying golden eyes.
02:18Kaelin paused.
02:20A dark, dangerous amusement flickered in his gaze.
02:23Is that so?
02:25My uncle Silas arrives tomorrow to sign your peace treaty, I said, my voice studying.
02:31But this letter isn't for you.
02:34It's to his inside man.
02:36He's bringing twenty mercenaries disguised as diplomats.
02:39They aren't coming to sign a treaty.
02:41They are coming to slit your throat at the table.
02:44Silence stretched between us.
02:46Heavy and dangerous.
02:48I watched the golden rings of his eyes contract.
02:51And who are you?
02:53Kaelin whispered.
02:54His thumb reached out to trace the jagged burn scar on my neck.
02:58I am a Laura of House Silverwood.
03:01The rightful heir to the land Silas stole.
03:04I lifted my chin.
03:05I am offering you a trade.
03:07My life.
03:09And his head.
03:10A slow, terrifying smile curled the corner of the warlord's mouth.
03:15Deal.
03:16The next morning, I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me in the mirror.
03:23Kaelin's servants had scrubbed two years of dirt from my skin.
03:27My tangled hair was brushed out, falling in long, fiery waves.
03:33But it was the dress that made me stop breathing.
03:37It was a gown of midnight black silk, embroidered with silver threads.
03:44It was ruthless.
03:46It was royal.
03:47But I wasn't stupid.
03:50As the servants turned their backs, I slipped a sharp silver steak knife from my breakfast tray
03:56and slid it deep into the hidden pocket of my sleeve.
04:00The door clicked open.
04:03Kaelin stepped inside.
04:05He was fully armored now, dark steel plating that made him look like a god of war.
04:12He stopped when he saw me.
04:15For a fraction of a second, the terrifying warlord faltered.
04:20His eyes dropped from my face down to the curve of my waist before snapping back up.
04:27The air in the room suddenly felt dangerously thin.
04:31He walked toward me, pulling a heavy silver chain from his pocket.
04:37I felt the heat as his chest against my back as he fastened it around my throat.
04:41The heavy silver pendant of the ash wolf dropped against my collarbone.
04:47A very public claim of protection.
04:51Listen to me.
04:52Kaelin murmured, his voice a gravelly whisper against my ear that sent the jolt of electricity
05:00straight down to my toes.
05:02When those doors open, you do not flinch.
05:06You do not look away.
05:08I turned to face him.
05:10The sheer size and power of him was intoxicating.
05:14Look at him, Kaelin commanded softly.
05:18Then remember, who stands behind you?
05:22The great hall was packed.
05:24In the center, sitting at the massive iron table, was my uncle Silas, flanked by six of
05:32his elite mercenaries.
05:34He looked exactly as I remembered.
05:37Cruel, arrogant, and fat with stolen wealth.
05:41The heavy doors groaned open.
05:45The herald slammed his staff against the floor.
05:49Lord Kaelin, the ash wolf, the herald bellowed, and his protected guest, Lady Alara of House
05:57Silverwood.
05:59The entire hall went dead silent.
06:03I stepped into the light, Kaelin a massive dark shadow at my side.
06:09My uncle's face lost all its color.
06:12He pushed back from the table, his chair scraping violently against the stone.
06:18Impossible, he choked out.
06:21She burned in the fire.
06:24A fire you set, Silas, I said.
06:28My voice echoed through the massive chamber.
06:30I brought Lord Kaelin your intercepted letters.
06:34The peace treaty is over.
06:36Your execution begins now.
06:40Silas's shock instantly morphed into panicked, cornered rage.
06:44He realized the trap had snapped shut.
06:48Kill the warlord, he screamed to his men, and gut the girl.
06:53Chaos erupted.
06:55The mercenaries drew their blades, surging forward.
06:58Kaelin moved with a speed that defied human logic.
07:02He stepped in front of me, drawing his broadsword in a single, brutal motion.
07:08Clang.
07:09He shattered the first mercenary sword, driving a steel-plated fist into the man's face.
07:15He ducked a second blade, severing the attacker's leg at the knee.
07:18The hall was a blur of blood, screaming, and tearing steel.
07:23But Silas's men were desperate.
07:26While Kaelin was engaged with three of them, a fourth mercenary slipped past his guard.
07:31The man lunged at me, a jagged dagger aimed straight for my chest.
07:36Ilara!
07:37Kaelin roared.
07:39Kaelin turned, leaving his back exposed to reach me.
07:42A mercenary's blade sliced across Kaelin's unarmed shoulder, drawing a thick line of blood,
07:47but the warlord didn't even flinch.
07:50I didn't freeze.
07:51I didn't scream.
07:53Two years of surviving in the dark took over.
07:56As the mercenary grabbed my shoulder, throwing his weight forward to drive the dagger into my heart,
08:01I dropped to my knees, slipping beneath his guard.
08:04My hands snapped to my sleeve.
08:06I drew the stolen silver knife and drove it upward,
08:09burying it hilt-deep into the soft flesh under the mercenary's jaw.
08:13The man choked, his eyes rolling back as his warm blood sprayed across my hands.
08:18He collapsed at my feet.
08:20I stood up, breathing heavily, the bloody knife still gripped in my fist.
08:25Kaelin had finished the rest.
08:27The room was deathly quiet, save for the groans of the dying.
08:31Kaelin stood panting, blood dripping from the cut on his shoulder.
08:34He looked at the dead man at my feet, then looked at me.
08:37There was no pity in his golden eyes.
08:39There was only raw, burning awe.
08:43Uncle Silas was the last one standing.
08:45He backed away, trembling pathetically,
08:47until he hit the cold stone wall, entirely surrounded by Kaelin's guards.
08:52Kaelin didn't sheathe his sword.
08:54He walked slowly towards Silas,
08:56the tip of his blade scraping against the floor, kicking up sparks.
09:00But Kaelin didn't raise his weapon.
09:02Instead, he looked back over his shoulder at me.
09:04He was giving me the choice.
09:06I walked forward.
09:08I didn't wipe the blood from my face.
09:10I looked at the man who had destroyed my life,
09:12feeling absolutely nothing for him.
09:15I looked at Kaelin, and gave a single, slow nod.
09:19With one brutal, effortless swing, Kaelin took my uncle's head.
09:23The adrenaline was fading.
09:25My hands began to shake as the guards dragged the bodies from the hall.
09:30Kaelin wiped his bloody sword on a fallen banner and sheathed it.
09:34He walked toward me, his heavy boots echoing in the quiet room.
09:38He reached out, his large, calloused hand gently wrapping over my small, bloody fingers,
09:45taking the silver dining knife from my grip.
09:47He tossed it onto the table.
09:50You're bleeding, I whispered, looking at the dark crimson staining his tunic.
09:55A scratch, he rumbled, stepping closer.
09:58The scent of battle mixed with the clean, sharp smell of pine that always clung to him.
10:04He reached up, his thumb gently wiping a smear of blood from my cheek.
10:08His eyes were incredibly dark.
10:11The primal violence of the fight had faded, leaving something much more dangerous in its place.
10:17The rats are gone from your house, Alara, he said, his voice dropping to a low, intimate frequency.
10:25Silas's men will scatter.
10:27Your lands are yours again.
10:29You are free to return south.
10:30I looked up at him.
10:32I thought about my empty, burned estate.
10:35Then I looked around at the cold, dark walls of the obsidian keep.
10:39The walls that had protected me.
10:41The monster who had bled for me.
10:44I didn't step away.
10:45I stepped closer, until the silver pendant on my chest brushed against his armor.
10:51Is that a command, my lord?
10:53I asked softly, holding his gaze.
10:57Kalen's jaw clenched.
10:58The muscles in his throat worked as he stared down at me.
11:01The air between us crackled with an electric, unbearable tension.
11:06His hand slid from my cheek, moving back to cup the nape of my neck, his fingers tangling in my
11:12hair.
11:13No.
11:14He breathed, his waist thick with a desperate, possessive heat.
11:18It is an option.
11:19He leaned down, his lips brushed a fraction of an inch against mine, so close I could taste the smoke
11:26on his breath.
11:27Stay.
11:28I closed my eyes, and for the first time in two years, I stopped running.
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