Bloodlines and Beasts

Elric sat on the edge of a stone bench by the window, elbows on his knees, staring out into the dark garden below. The moonlight cast silver streaks in his raven hair, but he didn't glow like a prince tonight.

He looked like a man unraveled.

Elira stood nearby, arms folded tightly, waiting. Watching.

And finally… he spoke.

"My family is cursed," he began. "Every heir born of House Aurelion… carries it. The beast. It's bound to our blood."

She didn't move, her eyes wide and focused.

He glanced up at her, then away.

"My grandfather was the first. Some ancient crime… a betrayal, maybe. No one knows exactly. Just that one night, he changed. And from then on, the curse passed down with the crown."

Elira swallowed. "So… every prince before you—"

"Yes," he said quietly. "And every one of them slowly lost themselves to it."

She took a step closer, cautiously. "What do you mean… lost?"

Elric's jaw clenched. "They started as men who transformed into beasts. But with time, the beast remains, and the man… disappears."

A chill went down her spine.

"I've seen the records," he continued. "Drawings. Old journals. The final prince before me—my uncle—he forgot how to speak. Forgot his name. He was kept in chains in a hidden part of the castle until he tore himself apart."

Elira gasped softly. "Gods…"

Elric's voice wavered for the first time. "I was ten when I found out. Fifteen when I first changed. My father was already… half-gone by then."

She moved closer now, slowly sitting across from him. Her anger faded into something quieter. Not forgiveness — but something closer to understanding.

"Why didn't anyone stop it?" she asked.

"We tried. The royal priests, the scholars, even the spellweavers from the far isles. But nothing worked. The curse isn't just magic. It's ancient. Buried in the roots of the kingdom itself."

He looked up at her, eyes tired.

"When I turn… I remember some things. Others, I don't. I have to lock myself away. I carved a secret chamber beneath the old wing, where the stone is thick and the doors won't splinter."

"You said I wasn't supposed to see the beast," she whispered.

"No one is. Especially not someone from… wherever you're from." His voice softened. "But the night you arrived, the mirror—" He stopped. "It reacted. It only does that when… something powerful touches it."

She frowned. "The mirror brought me here. But you think I was meant to come?"

"I don't know what to think anymore." He looked down at his hands, like they didn't belong to him. "All I know is… the night you saw me, you didn't scream."

"I didn't know it was you," she whispered. "I screamed after."

That earned a faint, dry laugh from him.

"Still. You didn't run right away." He glanced at her. "You've already done more than most ever could."

There was a pause.

Then she asked quietly, "And now? What happens next?"

He was silent for a moment, then stood and turned toward the window.

"I don't know. But the curse is changing. Growing stronger. It's not supposed to be triggered by rage… but lately, even daylight feels dangerous."

Elira stood too, heart pounding. "Are you afraid of what you'll become?"

He looked at her over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid… of what I'll do to you."