King Aldric’s Fury

The flames crackled in the great hall of Velmoria's palace, casting long shadows against the towering marble columns. King Aldric stood before the grand window overlooking his kingdom, hands clasped behind his back. His silver-streaked hair, once the color of autumn leaves, glowed under the torchlight. His sharp eyes, dark and brooding, scanned the night sky—the same sky that had stolen his daughter from him. 

Redgold. 

The name whispered through his mind like a curse, like a prayer. His daughter had been taken under the blackened eclipse... the eclipsing moon, and no word had come from her since. The council feared the worst. The kingdom trembled with rumors, and yet, the king remained unmoved—at least on the surface. 

At his side, the court seer, Lady Yvraine, watched him with her usual eerie calm. Draped in a robe woven with silver threads, she looked like something pulled from the realm of spirits—half here, half beyond the veil. She had guided Redgold since childhood, foreseen the princess's destiny long before Aldric had dared to listen. 

"You saw this, didn't you?" Aldric's voice was low, but beneath it, thunder rolled. 

"I did." Yvraine inclined her head, her glassy eyes unreadable. "But not all visions are set in stone, my king." 

Aldric's fingers curled into fists. "Then tell me, seer, what fate awaits my daughter? What madness does the Shadow King weave around her?" 

Yvraine exhaled, closing her eyes. The visions had been hazy, but one thing was clear—Redgold was walking straight into the jaws of chaos and into his arms. 

"King Kaizer is dangerous, but so is she," the seer murmured. "She does not yet understand her power, but when she does… the world will tremble." 

Aldric's face tightened. His daughter was more than a princess. She was born under the celestial alignment of the Blood Moon and the Veil Star. She was meant for something beyond a mere throne. But Kaizer, that beast of a king—had stolen her before she could awaken. 

Aldric turned to his royal guard, his decision made. "Gather our finest warriors. Prepare them in silence. If she is not returned soon, I will burn that wretched kingdom to the ground." 

---

Meanwhile, in Tenebris Noctis… 

I was burning. 

Not in the way the bonfires of my kingdom warmed the soul, but in a way that scorched me from the inside out. 

King Kaizer had brought me into his world. His dark court where shadows slithered like whispers and pleasure was a wicked game. Tonight, he had taken it further. Too far. 

I stood in the grand hall, surrounded by silk-clad nobles and masked figures. A feast of sin and indulgence stretched before me, the air filled with spiced wine and candle smoke. At the center of it all, lounging like a king upon his throne of onyx and bone, was him. 

Kaizer. 

His golden eyes burned into me from across the hall, gleaming like molten fire. He had not touched me—not tonight—but that didn't mean I was free of him. 

He had commanded me to stand before him, to watch as his world unraveled before my eyes. Servants draped in nothing but gold chains poured drinks into goblets. Exotic dancers moved in hypnotic waves. The court's laughter echoed, but beneath it all was a pulsing, rising tension. 

Because this was about me. 

A test. A wicked game. 

I knew what he wanted—to break me, to make me beg for an escape that only he could grant. 

I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. 

"Your Majesty," a noblewoman purred, reclining near Kaizer's throne. She ran a jeweled hand over his arm, but his gaze never left mine. "You seem… distracted." 

Kaizer smirked. "Am I?" 

The woman leaned in, her lips brushing his jaw. A petty move. A foolish one. Because though he did not push her away, his eyes still burned into me. 

Damn him.

I should have looked away. I should have been disgusted. But instead, something inside me boiled—anger, defiance, something worse... hatred. 

This was all a game to him. 

Fine. 

I took a step forward, chin raised, shoulders squared. A challenge. His lips parted, a flicker of something wicked dancing across his expression. 

"Careful, little princess," he murmured, his voice deep, edged in amusement. "You're treading dangerous ground." 

I tilted my head. "And you think I fear you?" 

His smirk deepened. "Oh, you should." 

The noblewoman beside him laughed, but I saw the flicker of irritation cross her features. Kaizer was mine to provoke, not hers. 

The tension stretched between us, taut as a bowstring. 

Then, without warning, he moved. 

One moment, he was lounging, the next, he was before me—so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. His scent—smoke, cedar, and something wild—enveloped me like a snare. 

"You play with fire, Redgold." His breath brushed against my ear. "Do you think I won't burn you?" 

I swallowed hard, refusing to step back. "Do you think I won't burn you back?" 

Silence. Then a flicker of something dark passed through his golden eyes. And he smiled. 

The next moment, his fingers brushed my wrist. A whisper of a touch, barely there, yet it sent a shock through my entire being. A spell. A curse. A brand. 

My breath hitched. He felt it. I knew he did. 

I should have pulled away. Instead, I stood frozen as his grip tightened, dragging my hand up to his chest. His heart pounded beneath my palm. Strong. Unyielding. Like mine. 

His voice was a whisper of sin against my skin. 

"You will belong to me." 

A shiver ran through me, but I lifted my chin. "You're wrong." 

Kaizer only laughed. A promise. A threat. 

"Am I?" 

His lips hovered near mine, a breath away, a second from ruin. 

And I hated that because at that moment… I didn't know whether I wanted to run or fall. My legs became weak like jelly.

---

Back in Velmoria…

King Aldric sat upon his throne, his face carved from stone. Before him, the warriors of Velmoria knelt, their swords gleaming under the firelight. 

Lady Yvraine's warning still echoed in his mind. 

The world will tremble.

Then let it tremble. Because he would bring his daughter home. 

And Kaizer would suffer. 

---

Redgold is caught in the deadly dance of desire and defiance with Kaizer, while King Aldric prepares for war. The fate of Velmoria and her heart—hangs in the balance.