[ Back to present : Velor’s castle. Autumn’s room.]
The room was dim.
Heavy drapes were drawn tight against the midday sun. Only a sliver of light slipped through, cutting a pale gold line across the floor, illuminating motes of dust that drifted lazily in the air. The scent of lavender and chamomile lingered.Probably left by the maids to soothe her.
The door to the chamber creaked open with a subtle groan, as Velor stepped inside first.Behind him, Niva, Mara, and Serra followed, their footsteps muffled by the thick carpet.
It felt oddly cold inside, like the air had thickened since morning.The bedding was ruffled slightly, as if soone had tossed once in their sleep and then never moved again.
Autumn lay still on it. One arm curled beside her head, hair fanned across the pillow,the other hand resting over her lower abdon.
She looked like a statue carved in so softer world. Untouched by noise. Unaware of ti. Her breathing was shallow...too shallow.
Velor’s gaze dropped, narrowing. His stride lengthened.
"Autumn?" he called softly.
No answer.
He sank to one knee beside the bed, his hands moving to her wrist. His fingers closed around it gently, brushing aside her sleeve.
His wives lingered near the doorway, watching...but sothing about his touch made Niva glance at the other two uneasily.
It was the way he held her wrist.Too long.
His thumb pressed over her pulse, then shifted slightly. Then again. He pressed lower on her palm. Then laid his hand against her neck.
And again...kept holding.
His other hand went to her forehead, sweeping her stray hair aside.He pressed his palm flat over her chest, above her heart, sensing again.Closely. "No. This isn’t normal!She is ice cold," he confird, pulling back with a frown. "Like she has been lying in snow."Velor’s jaw tightened, his wives watched. "This isn’t normal sleep at all."
His voice sharpened, cutting through the quiet like a blade as he shook his head, evaluating the situation."Call the healer and the witches.Now!"
Mara gasped, already halfway to the door. "Maids! Guards! Get the royal healers and the witches here imdiately! MOVE!"
Footsteps exploded down the corridor outside as panic unfurled.Velor remained beside Autumn, his fingers now unsteady as he brushed her temple again. "Her aura is wrong. Like sothing is..."
Within minutes, a healer and a witch burst in."My Alpha, please step aside. Let us take a close look," the healer said quickly, already moving to the bedside.
Velor rose, backing off but watching with intensity...retreating only far enough to give them space. His arms crossed, his stance rigid.
The healer peeled back Autumn’s eyelids, checking her pupils, then pressed a polished silver disk to her chest, listening intently. His frown deepened.
"Breath is indeed shallow. Pulse is... erratic. Like it’s fighting against sothing," he muttered, more to himself than to the room.
The witch tipped a single drop of sothing onto Autumn’s tongue, then watched, waiting.
Nothing.
"No reaction," the witch observed, her voice tight. "Her body isn’t processing it."
Autumn’s arm was gently unwrapped from around her belly. Her pulse was tested again...wrist, neck, even the top of her foot.The witch on the other side held a small orb over her navel. It flickered. Then dimd.
"What are you seeing?" Serra asked, stepping closer.
The witch frowned. "A sharp drop in vital frequency. Almost like... her spirit’s been pulled sowhere else."
"What the hell does that even an?" Velor barked.
"She is breathing," the healer added quickly, "but her internal rhythm is chaotic. Her pulse, aura, the fetal energy...it seems like everything is distorted."
"Fetal energy?" Mara echoed. "The babies...are not okay?"
"They are alive," the healer nodded, but then his face darkened. "But they are reacting. Disoriented. Likely affected by whatever is happening to the mother."
The glances exchanged, were paranoid.
"Sothing has interfered with her internal flow," he continued grimly. "Her blood shows signs of deep psychic disturbance..."
" Of course it does. Because...," the witch confird as she continued. "Seems like she is under so kind of spiritual arrest."
"Possession?" Velor asked sharply.
"No. Not possession. But a forced tether. Like soone has reached inside her and pulled on her soul."
Niva’s mouth fell open. "By the Moon..."
The witch then reached for a lancet. Without ceremony, she pricked Autumn’s fingertip, letting a single bead of blood well up. It was darker than it should have been...almost black in the dim light.
The healers and the witch exchanged glances.
"We need to test it," The healer inford. The witch produced a small, circular mirror of polished obsidian. She sared the blood across its surface, then held it up, murmuring an incantation under her breath.
The blood shimred. Then, slowly, it began to move...coiling like smoke, forming symbols none of them could read.
The healer and the witch recoiled as one."Goddess above," the witch breathed.
Niva stepped forward. "Say it. Say what it is?"
The healer looked at Autumn’s still face, then back at the dish.
Then he lit a fla beneath it and dropped in a handful of dried root.
The liquid sizzled.
Bubbled.
Turned a strange, murky grey.
The witch froze.
Velor noticed. "What the hell is that color?"
"That’s not..." the healer stamred, voice suddenly hoarse.His face paled. He turned to Velor, his expression grave.But it was the witch who finished the sentence...
"This is no illness, Alpha. This is a curse."
Niva’s hand flew to her mouth. Mara’s fists clenched. Serra simply closed her eyes, as if bracing from the blow.
The air in the room turned to ice.
" A curse you say? " Velor’s voice developed a sudden lethal edge. " Recent? "
The witch nodded. " I am no expert in curses but it seems like this one was cast not before last night! "
Everyone’s jaws dropped open. Wide.
"A curse? Inflicted inside my territories? Under my watch! " Velor barked so loud,everyone flinched at once. "Break it," he commanded, his voice reverberating. "Whatever it takes."
"It is not that simple," The witch added quietly. "Whoever cast this did not just want her asleep."
She held up the mirror. The blood had ford a single, unmistakable symbol now.
A crescent moon. Dripping.With blood.
"They want her gone."
Reviews
All reviews (0)