The princess’s scream tore through the stone corridor, a sound of pure terror that stopped Kova mid-step. She was carrying a tray for the guards, but her heart lurched at the raw fear in that voice. Someone was in there with the king’s beast, the monster that left no one alive. She rounded the corner and nearly collided with two men playing dice.
“Can’t you hear her screaming? ” she demanded. “Let her out. ”
The older guard, Darren, barked out a laugh.
“Let her out? Girly, the princess in there is Princess Quintina. She decided to risk her life for a chance to marry the Alpha King. Neither you nor I stand to marry him if we survived whatever’s in there.
”
Another scream split the air. “Please, help me! ”
Kova flinched. “She’s calling it quits,” she insisted.
“Everyone knows a contender can call it quits at any time. Let her out. ”
“Can’t,” Darren said shortly. A growl erupted from inside the chamber, deep and animalistic.
“What if it gets out? I’m not opening that door until that thing falls asleep or something. ”
Kova stared at him in shock. It might be too late for Princess Quintina by then.
She was just a maid, with no business intervening in princesses’ lives, but she’d helped enough noble ladies do their hair to know they were groomed from birth to want a king. It wasn’t their fault that the richest, most handsome king in five kingdoms would only pick a Luna who could survive the Red Trials—a series of four near-impossible ancient trials. The first: survive a night with a beast very few had ever seen and lived to tell the tale. “I’ll open the door and get her out,” Kova said.
“You two stand back. ”
The guards exchanged glances. Finally, Darren jerked his head toward the key. “Make it quick,” he muttered.
Kova’s hands shook as she grabbed the key and shoved it into the lock. The princess’s screams cut off abruptly. The door exploded outward. Quintina slammed into Kova with the force of pure panic, sending her stumbling sideways.
Her heel caught on the threshold, and she fell into the chamber. The key dropped from her hand, clattering on the corridor stone, while Quintina carried on past. The door swung shut with a boom that echoed in Kova’s bones. The lock engaged with a final, absolute click.
Kova scrambled to her feet and spun toward the door. “Princess! Quintina, the key! Get the guards!
” But her voice was met with silence. She heard a growl behind her and froze. The chamber stretched before her, vast and dark. There was a small knife on the floor—Quintina’s weapon of choice.
And in the far corner, something moved. “Hello? ” Kova’s voice came out small. She cleared her throat.
“I didn’t mean to. This was an accident. I’m not a competitor. I’m just a maid.
”
Her eyes adjusted slowly. She could make out a shape now, massive and low to the ground. Bigger than any wolf. Bigger than a horse.
The shape rose, unfolded, and stood. Kova held back a scream. Something with dark fur covering a frame that rippled with muscle, with a head that was mostly teeth, turned toward her. It took a step forward.
Kova’s hand shot out and grabbed the knife. “Stay back,” she said, raising the blade. It charged. The massive form slammed into her, driving her back against the stone wall.
Hot breath washed over her face, and those terrible jaws opened inches from her throat. Kova thrust the knife upward with all her strength. The blade sank deep into the beast’s shoulder. It roared and pulled back, dark blood spreading around the wound.
And then the wound began to close. The torn flesh knitted itself back together, fur regrowing over unmarked skin. It could not be killed. “No,” Kova whispered.
“Please, no. ”
But the beast kept coming, deliberately. Kova brandished her knife again. “I said, stay back.
”
The beast stopped directly in front of her. Something in those crimson eyes wasn’t rage. Then it lowered its massive head and pressed its chest against the blade. Kova gasped as the knife pierced fur and flesh, blood welling around the steel.
The beast’s whole body shuddered, but it didn’t pull back. It pushed forward, driving the blade deeper into its own flesh. Kova yanked the knife away, horrified. “What are you doing?
Stop it. ”
The beast stumbled, that terrible wound already beginning to heal. And then it moved toward her again, pressing against the blade once more. “No, stop,” Kova said.
She stared at the creature before her, at the scars beneath its fur, at the constant trembling of its muscles. This creature was suffering. “Stop,” she whispered, and dropped the knife. The beast went still.
Kova reached out with trembling hands and placed them on either side of its massive head, touching the space between those burning crimson eyes. The world exploded. Oceans of anguish flooded through her, white hot and endless. Pain layered upon pain, confusion, fear, and something deeper—a connection clicking into place like a key in a lock she hadn’t known existed.
It wrapped around her heart and lungs and soul. Kova’s eyes rolled back, and darkness took her. She woke to whispers and polished marble beneath her cheek. Torchlight blazed overhead, making her head pound.
She was in the throne room. Nobles lined both sides of the chamber, all staring at her. “Bring her to me,” a voice said. At the far end, elevated on a dais, sat the Alpha King on a throne of dark wood and iron—King Varick.
Beside him stood a woman with midnight hair, his closest advisor, Rahilda. Rough hands scooped Kova up and sat her on a stiff wooden stool. “She ruined everything! ” Princess Quintina appeared behind her, pointing an accusing finger.
“I was this close to passing the trial, and then she pulled me out and ruined everything! ”
Kova gaped. This was the same woman who’d begged for help? But Quintina’s eyes burned with vindictive fury.
“I aimed to lure the beast closer by appearing vulnerable so I could strike. Your Majesty, she should be punished for obstruction. ”
The crowd erupted. “A common servant trying to steal the honor meant for true nobility?
” “Probably thought she could trick her way into becoming Luna! ”
Kova shook her head. “But if you let me explain—” She stopped. What would she even say?
The princess wasn’t going to back her up. The guards wouldn’t speak up either. She had no allies here. A growl echoed through her mind—low, utterly inhuman.
Kova stilled. “What was that? ” Her head whipped around, but the beast wasn’t here. Another growl, close, and with it a feeling.
Something primal, protective. “Silence! ” King Varick’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade. The throne room fell quiet instantly.
He rose and descended the dais steps, stopping directly in front of Kova. He reached out, his fingers catching her chin with surprising gentleness, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. His eyes were dark, searching. “How long were you in the chamber?
” the king asked, turning to Rahilda. “From sunset to sunrise, Your Majesty,” she said. “A full night. ”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“And the beast? ” the king asked. “Calm when the guards entered,” Rahilda said carefully. “No sign of aggression.
”
The king’s expression didn’t change, but Kova saw the way his knuckles whitened. “How? ” he asked, turning back to her. “A creature that has killed warriors, mages, princesses from a dozen kingdoms.
How did you succeed when everyone else failed? ”
Another growl rumbled through Kova’s mind, and with it came a new feeling—sadness, pain, something almost wounded. Could she feel the beast somehow? Its emotions?
“I’m not sure, Your Majesty,” she murmured. “It… it spared me, I suppose. ”
King Varick’s expression transformed. “Spared you?
” he sneered. “When it’s never spared a single soul? Not even the best of us? ” he added in a whisper that sounded like grief.
He straightened, addressing the crowd. “No one has ever passed the first trial in three years. None have survived a full night with the beast. Until you.
You are officially invited to take the Red Trials. You have already succeeded in the first. Three more remain. ”
Kova stared at him, stunned.
“I remind you,” the king said, “that should you win, you will become my queen and my wife. ”
The throne room exploded. “She’s not even nobleborn! ” a noble shouted.
King Varick raised a hand. “She survived where all others failed. That is the only qualification that matters. ”
Kova’s mind reeled.
If the beast couldn’t be killed, if King Varick knew it couldn’t be killed, then why hold trials at all? Did he actually want someone to succeed? “However,” the king continued, “you may refuse and return to your former life, should you choose. ”
Kova’s heart leaped.
She could refuse. But then a growl rumbled through her mind. Not words, but meaning as clear as if he’d spoken: *Stay. Accept.
*
“I… I accept,” Kova said. King Varick nodded. “Then it is decided. Kova of…” He paused.
“What is your family name? ”
“I don’t have one, Your Majesty. I’m an orphan. ”
“Kova the orphan, then.
You will compete in the second trial three days hence. Until then, you will be given quarters befitting a competitor. ”
The beast’s presence in her mind went quiet, but she could still feel it—a warm, steady pulse beneath her thoughts as the guards escorted her through the crowd. How could she feel what the beast felt?
And why would a king who clearly believed the beast was a ruthless killer send his potential fiancées to face it, knowing it was unkillable? What had she just agreed to? The three days passed in a blur of silk and strangeness. Kova was led to new quarters with a proper bed and servants who brought her meals, but what mattered was the silence in her head.
“Are you there? ” she whispered to the empty room on the first night. Nothing. She tried again the next morning.
“Can you hear me? ” Silence. By the second day, she was asking questions into the void. “Why did you hurt yourself with my knife?
” And then, when there was still no reply, “Did I imagine you? ”
On the third night, unable to sleep, she lay in the darkness and whispered one more time, “Am I going mad? ”
The silence stretched so long she was certain she had her answer. Then, a presence brushed against her mind—something that was now unmistakably there.
It didn’t fade, a steady warmth at the edges of her consciousness. She knew then. He was still there, waiting. On the morning of the second trial, Kova was dressed in leather and boots, combat clothes that felt foreign on her body.
Guards flanked the carriage in the courtyard. “Where are we going? ” Kova asked as she climbed inside. “The Gauntlet,” one guard said.
“In the Thornwood. ”
Kova’s voice came out strangled. No. It couldn’t be.
She’d heard it whispered in the servants’ quarters. The Gauntlet was ancient, older than the kingdom itself. Kings had been sending expeditions into it for decades to retrieve treasures rumored to lie within. No one ever came back.
When the carriage stopped, her worst fears were confirmed. Elaborate tents ringed a clearing. Wooden stands had been erected, and on a raised dais sat King Varick and Rahilda. Beyond that, in the center of the clearing, stood an ancient stone archway covered in moss and strange symbols.
Beyond the arch, darkness—thick and absolute, as if it led somewhere that shouldn’t exist. Rahilda descended from the dais. “The second trial, Kova the orphan. Retrieve and return with the sacred weapon from the chamber at the gauntlet’s end.
”
Kova’s knees buckled while the crowd murmured with excitement. She looked up at King Varick. He sat perfectly still, his expression cold and distant. Their eyes met, and Kova thought, *He wants me dead.
He wants all his candidates dead. *
King Varick raised his hand. “Let us begin. ”
Kova took a shaking breath and crossed the threshold.
The world changed. The whispers cut off abruptly. The clearing, the crowd, the dais—all of it vanished, swallowed by darkness. Then torches flickered to life along narrow stone walls, revealing a passage carved from rough rock, twisting out of sight.
“A labyrinth? ” Kova murmured, stunned. She glanced back desperately. The archway behind her showed only darkness.
She was trapped. “Stupid beast,” she whispered. “I could have said no. Why did you push me to—” She paused, because something was pressing against her mind.
A presence. Like someone reaching out and touching her shoulder in the dark. “You’re here,” she gasped, pressing her hand to her mouth. “You’re really here.
”
The presence pressed closer—confirmation, protectiveness, determination radiating through the connection. “Can you help me? ” Kova whispered desperately. The presence wrapped tighter around her thoughts.
A wordless promise: *Yes. *
Suddenly, *Danger! * Kova jerked backward, her back slamming against the wall. The floor ahead of her ended.
A pit yawned open, wider than she could jump. “You saved me,” she gasped. A rumble of acknowledgement echoed through her mind. Then urgency pressed against her thoughts, pulling her gaze upward.
There, barely visible in the dancing torchlight, were grooves carved into the ceiling. Handholds. “I can’t. I’ve never climbed anything.
I’ll fall. ”
But the beast’s presence wrapped tighter around her thoughts, steadying. With shaking hands, she reached up. Her fingers found the carved stone.
A pulse of encouragement flooded through the connection. Inch by agonizing inch, she moved across the ceiling, the beast’s instincts guiding her—a directional pull to a handhold in shadow, a sense of wrong when she reached for crumbling stone. Finally, a surge of hope. Ground was close.
Her legs gave out when she dropped, and she collapsed, gasping. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you. ”
A rumble echoed through her mind, and then, clear as day: “You did good.
”
Kova’s head snapped up. “You can talk? ”
“Trying. ”
“How did you know how to guide me?
”
A surge of feeling answered—images, sensations, seeing through her eyes. “You can see what I see? ”
*Yes. * The word was deeper now, more solid.
An actual voice, deep and gravelly, resonating inside her skull in a way that made her breath catch. “All right,” Kova said, forcing herself to stand. “Let’s keep moving. ”
The maze seemed endless.
More corridors, more traps. The beast’s presence guided her, feelings of danger pulling her attention to threats. Finally, the passage opened into a circular chamber with a domed ceiling. And there, in the center, on a stone pedestal, rested a sword.
The blade glowed with a soft white light. Kova approached carefully and closed her fingers around the leather-wrapped hilt. The moment her skin touched the sword, white light exploded around her. She stumbled, gasping, and found herself standing in blazing sunlight.
She was back outside. The crowd erupted in shocked gasps. King Varick and Rahilda rose from their seats. “You succeeded,” the latter breathed.
King Varick descended, approaching with measured steps. He stared at the sword as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Rahilda,” he said quietly. The advisor stepped closer, her fingers hovering just above the blade.
“An angel’s blade, Your Majesty. Infused with pure white magic. ”
King Varick’s breath left him in a rush. He looked at Kova and smiled, and for a minute there, he almost seemed hopeful.
“Kova the Orphan has retrieved the angel’s blade from the Gauntlet. She advances to the third trial. ”
The summons came the evening after the second trial. The servants dressed Kova in a gown of deep emerald green and led her through winding corridors to a part of the castle she’d never seen.
The king’s private dining chamber was smaller than she’d expected, intimate even. King Varick stood when she entered, dressed in a simple black tunic that made him look even more imposing. “Kova,” he said, nodding. “Thank you for coming.
”
“You’re nervous,” he observed as servants brought the first course. “Wouldn’t you be, Your Majesty? ”
His lips twitched. “Perhaps.
”
The silence stretched. “Why the trials, Your Majesty? ” Kova finally asked. “Why don’t you pick a bride out of love rather than competence?
”
“We’ve established I’ve just been lucky,” Kova insisted. “I don’t know how else to explain it. ”
King Varick sighed. “These trials are meant to help me find somebody worthy.
” A small smile touched his lips. “Worthy of being Queen. ”
“And you think I might be worthy? ” Kova asked.
His smile faded. “I suppose we’ll find out, won’t we? ”
“You’ve done something unprecedented,” the king continued. “Reached a point in the trials no one else has achieved.
For that, I’m prepared to grant you a favor. Gold, land. What would you like? ”
Kova’s mind raced.
There was only one thing she truly wanted. “I’d like to see the beast,” she said quietly. King Varick’s entire body went rigid. “What did you just say?
”
“The beast you had me spend a night with. I’d like to see him again. ”
“It isn’t a person,” the king snapped, his expression darkening. “I’d like to see it,” Kova amended quickly.
“I don’t know why it spared me. And it haunts me. I need to understand why I survived. ”
King Varick stared at her for a long moment.
“Ten minutes,” he said finally. “After we finish here, I’ll have guards escort you to the dungeons. ”
The guards led Kova through the familiar corridors, down stone steps, to where she could see the monster through iron bars. And there, in the shadows, she could see him.
The beast. He was even more terrifying than she remembered—massive, hulking, covered in matted dark fur. Those crimson eyes glowed in the darkness, fixed on her. But he was calmer, still, just watching her.
“You came? ” His voice whispered through her mind, that same deep, gravelly rumble. “It’s really you,” Kova breathed. “The voice in my head, the presence—it’s you.
”
“Yes. ”
“You can talk now,” she said. “That first night, you couldn’t. What changed?
”
“Don’t know,” he told her in her mind. “Could barely think. Only rage. ”
Kova moved a step closer to the bars.
“Why did you spare me that first night? ”
The beast’s crimson eyes met hers. “Why wouldn’t I? ”
The question was so simple, so genuinely curious, it took her aback.
“Because… you hurt all those other people. Killed some of them. ”
The beast went rigid. Then he recoiled, backing away from the bars as if she’d struck him.
A low growl rumbled from his chest—not threatening, but distressed. “I don’t remember. ”
“You don’t remember hurting them? ”
“No.
Only darkness, pain. ”
“Why did you want me to continue the trials? ” Kova asked. “In the throne room, you told me to accept.
”
“Safe,” the beast said immediately. “You safe if continue. You queen. ”
“You want me to become queen?
Why? ”
He moved closer again. “You queen can help me. ”
But he just shook his head.
Whatever he was, whatever had happened to him, he was suffering. “I’ll help you,” Kova said quietly. “I don’t know how yet, but I’ll do my best. ”
The beast’s crimson eyes softened.
And deep inside her mind, Kova heard, “Thank you. ”
The morning of the third trial arrived with crisp autumn air. The courtyard was packed. King Varick sat on the raised dais, Rahilda beside him.
He rose to address the crowd. “The third trial…” He stopped, cleared his throat. “The third trial is not ready. ”
Murmurs erupted immediately.
What? Rahilda turned to him sharply. “Everything is ready, my lord. ”
“No,” the king said.
“I think we need to check a couple of things first. ”
“Let’s discuss this in private,” he told her, giving her a pointed look. The crowd’s whispers grew louder. Rahilda inclined her head.
“Of course, Your Majesty. ”
King Varick turned to address the crowd. “The third trial is postponed. You will be notified when it resumes.
”
Back in her chambers, Kova sent the thought to the beast. “Did you see how his advisor looked? She didn’t look at all like she knew the king was going to delay. She plans these trials.
But then King says there’s a delay and she doesn’t know about it. ”
“You think King lie? ” the beast asked slowly. “I’m not sure.
I think there’s a reason he’s running these trials, but I don’t think he’s being honest about what it is. ”
A week passed. Then another. The third trial still wasn’t ready.
Kova was confined to her quarters and the library, allowed to wander only between those two places under guard supervision. The library became her refuge. And with the beast’s presence constantly in her mind, she wasn’t truly alone. One day, as Kova ran her finger along a shelf of fiction, the beast’s voice perked up.
“Oh. The Wayward Prince. ”
“You know this book? ”
“Yes.
I quite enjoyed it, actually. ”
Kova stared at the title. “When did you even read a book? ”
Silence stretched.
Then, quietly, “I don’t remember. ”
Kova felt his discomfort, his frustration at the gaps in his memory. It seemed to pain him. “Would you like me to read it to you?
” she offered gently. “I’m slow, but I could try. ”
A pulse of gratitude. “Yes.
Please. ”
So Kova settled into a chair by the window and began to read aloud, stumbling over difficult words. The beast listened patiently, sometimes helping with pronunciation, sometimes simply enjoying the story. Two weeks after the delay, Kova was preparing for bed when pain lanced through her mind.
Not her pain. His. She gasped, sitting upright. The beast’s agony crashed over her in waves—white-hot, searing.
Then a scream echoed through their connection, inhuman, tortured. “What’s wrong? What’s happening? ” Kova jumped to her feet.
Silence. More pain. Another scream. Finally, “Fine.
I’m fine. ”
“You’re not fine. I’m coming. ”
“No.
”
But Kova was already out the door, racing through the corridors toward the dungeons. Another wave of pain crashed through her mind. The beast went silent. She reached the dungeon level, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
The two guards at the beast’s chamber door looked up in surprise. “Let me through,” Kova demanded. “Miss, you don’t have permission,” one guard started. A scream echoed from behind the iron door—not in her mind this time, an actual, physical scream of agony that made Kova’s blood run cold.
“What’s happening? What are they doing to him? ”
The guards blocked her path. “You need to leave, now.
”
“He’s in pain. I can hear him. ”
“We have our orders. You’re not permitted access tonight.
”
Another scream. Kova flinched, tears springing to her eyes. “Please,” she whispered. The first guard’s expression softened slightly.
“Your trial starts tomorrow. You should rest. ”
“Tomorrow? But they said—“
“We were told to be ready at dawn.
Now go back to your quarters. ”
In a daze, Kova turned and walked away. She made it halfway up the corridor before her legs gave out. “I’m here,” she whispered into the silence.
No response. She sat in the cold corridor for a long time. She didn’t sleep that night. Kova barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard those screams, felt the beast’s pain radiating through their bond before it cut off into terrifying silence. She’d tried reaching out to him all night. Nothing. Just that faint pulse through the connection.
Proof he was alive, but distant. The courtyard was packed when she arrived. Kova noticed the circular platform of white stone in the center. Symbols were carved into its surface, and they seemed to shift and writhe when she looked at them.
Rahilda descended from the dais, holding the angel’s blade. “The third trial tests cunning and bravery. You have retrieved a weapon. Now you must prove yourself capable of wielding it.
Step onto the platform and face the guardian. Only by passing its test will you prove worthy of a Luna. ”
Kova stepped onto the platform. The world exploded into light.
When her vision cleared, she was in a chamber of white marble. Before her stood five mirrors, their frames ornate and ancient. In each one, Kova saw a different version of herself. “I don’t understand,” she said aloud.
“What do you think they represent? ”
A voice answered from behind her. Kova spun around, and for a moment, hope flared in her chest. But the voice wasn’t his.
It was smooth, feminine. In the center of the chamber stood a figure, tall and thin, its face smooth except for two eyes that burned with silver light. “I am the guardian. The trial’s weight is measured by the mirrors.
Choose a reflection you know well, and the path is clear. Choose a stranger wearing your face, and you may not survive what you learn. ”
“It’s saying the trial’s difficulty depends on which version of yourself you face,” came a deep voice inside her mind. Kova gasped.
Relief flooded through her so powerfully her knees almost buckled. *You’re here. I’ve been trying to reach you all night. What happened?
*
“Later. Your trial. Focus. ”
The first mirror showed her in maid’s clothing.
The second showed her battered and bloody but still standing, defiant. Kova studied them. “I know the first one. I’m never seen but always present.
I’m given freely but rarely valued. I make others shine while I fade into shadow. ”
“What am I? ” the reflection asked.
“Devotion,” Kova said. “The work no one notices. ”
“And does that make you lesser? ”
“It made me invisible.
But it also taught me to see others. To notice what they needed before they asked. ”
“Then strike the mirror. ” Kova raised the sword and swung.
The blade connected with a clear ringing note, and the mirror shattered into motes of light that sank into the steel. The second reflection’s voice was rough. “I cling to life when I should let go. I endure when I should surrender.
Am I strength? Or am I fear? ”
Kova paused. “You are survival.
”
“And what am I surviving for? ”
Kova thought of every trial. “For someone who can’t survive on his own anymore,” she said quietly. A deep sound rumbled through her mind, warm and affectionate.
She struck the second mirror, and silver light cascaded into the sword. “Now. The third,” the guardian said. Kova found herself approaching the fifth mirror before she’d consciously decided.
When the fifth reflection spoke, its voice was gentle, vulnerable. “I am not chosen. I am not logical. I grow without permission and change everything I touch.
What am I? ”
Kova’s mind went blank. Panic bubbled up. “Concentrate.
The beast’s voice wrapped around her, soothing. You know this. ”
Kova took a deep breath and stared at her reflection. “You’re reaching for something.
For someone. ”
“Name it,” the reflection demanded. “Name what I am. ”
“Kova,” the beast whispered in her mind, very quiet.
“Reach into your heart. The answer lies there. ”
Kova closed her eyes. She thought about the warmth in her chest when the beast spoke to her.
The way she’d chosen to continue the trials not for the crown, but for him. The way hearing his screams last night had broken something in her. The way his silence this morning had terrified her. “Love,” she whispered, opening her eyes.
“You’re love. ”
“Is that your final answer? ” the guardian’s voice boomed. Kova nodded, her hands shaking.
“Yes. ”
“Then strike the mirror. Prove you accept this truth. ”
Kova raised the sword, met her reflection’s eyes—her own eyes, soft with an emotion she’d been refusing to name—and struck.
White and gold light exploded around her. “You have faced the servant, the survivor, and the lover. You have named what you are. The weapon embodies you.
The third trial is complete. ”
The white chamber dissolved. Kova blinked, and she was back on the platform in the courtyard. King Varick rose from his throne.
“The third trial is complete. Kova advances to the final trial. ”
Kova couldn’t sleep. Three trials completed, one remaining.
The beast had known what the fifth mirror represented before she did. There was something he wasn’t telling her about himself. Or something he couldn’t remember. She needed air.
Kova slipped out of her quarters, bare feet silent on cold stone. She turned a corner and heard voices coming from a partially open door at the end of the hall. “You can’t keep doing this,” Rahilda’s voice, but not the composed advisor Kova had always seen. This voice was strained, breaking at the edges.
“You already postponed the third trial. You need to move forward. ”
“I can do what I want,” King Varick snapped. “I’ve waited six years.
I can wait longer. ”
“She’s going to win tomorrow,” Rahilda said, her voice cracking. “You know she will. I could offer her something else.
Gold, land. She doesn’t have to become queen. ”
“You sent princesses through these trials,” Rahilda snapped, taking a step toward him. “All for the promise of your hand.
”
“Kova’s a commoner, not a princess. ”
“So am I. ” The words hung in the air as King Varick finally turned. He looked at Rahilda as if she’d struck him.
“You’re the woman I love. And without your magic, we’d never—“
“My magic doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change what happens next. ”
“I can’t lose you, Rahilda.
”
“Enough. ” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “You have a duty to your kingdom, to your brother’s memory. ”
Rahilda swept toward the door, and Kova barely had time to press herself into an alcove as the advisor rushed past, her whole body shaking.
Kova waited until her footsteps faded completely before she dared to move. The king and his advisor were in love, but unable to be together. And it had something to do with the king’s brother. His name—Nero—echoed in Kova’s mind.
Kova found a servant in one of the side passages, an older woman carrying fresh linens. “Miss, what are you doing out at this hour? ”
“I couldn’t sleep. Please, I have a question.
What happened to the king’s brother, Nero? ”
The servant’s expression immediately shuttered. “That’s not a name we speak of lightly, miss. ”
“Please.
”
The servant’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “King Nero ruled for only two years. He was young, kind, the people loved him. And then… he was murdered.
”
Kova’s blood ran cold. “Murdered? ”
“Aye. Six years ago this winter.
Right here in the castle, in his own chambers. King Varick found him. ”
“Did they ever catch who did it? ”
The servant leaned closer.
“They did, miss. King Varick took care of it himself. It was the beast. The one they keep locked in the dungeons below.
”
Kova took a step back. “The beast? ”
“Aye. King Varick captured it himself, tracked it down and trapped it.
Some say he should have killed it right then, but he wanted it to suffer. For taking his brother. ”
Kova couldn’t breathe. The screams.
The pain radiating through the bond that night. The way the beast had gone silent, unreachable. “Are you all right, miss? You’ve gone pale.
”
“I… Are you absolutely certain it was the beast who—“
“As certain as I’m standing here,” the servant said firmly. “I saw the king drag that creature into the dungeons myself. ”
Kova made it back to her room and closed the door behind her with shaking hands. “You killed his brother,” she whispered aloud.
First, there was only silence through the connection. Then, “What? ”
“King Nero. The king’s older brother.
You murdered him. ”
She felt the beast’s presence recoil. “I don’t… I don’t remember. ”
“I know you don’t.
But that’s what happened. That’s why King Varick keeps you locked up. Why he—“
The beast’s presence was churning now, chaotic. She could feel him pacing, agitated, distressed.
“I killed the king’s brother? ”
“The servant said everyone knows. King Varick captured you himself right after it happened. ”
Sadness flooded through the connection.
“He’ll never let you go,” Kova whispered. “It doesn’t matter if I become queen. He’ll never free you. Not after what you did.
”
“It’s all right,” the beast said quietly. “What are you talking about? We agreed we’d work together. I’d become queen and you’d be free.
”
“I will be. You’ll find a way. ”
“What if I don’t? ”
“I trust you,” the beast said simply.
But Kova heard the uncertainty beneath his words. “I don’t know how to save you,” she whispered. “I believe in you. ”
His words, instead of comforting her, only made her cry harder.
This wasn’t a trial she could win with luck or determination. This was a murdered king and a brother’s vengeance. How could she fight that? Kova woke to sunlight streaming through her window and a knot of dread in her stomach.
The final trial. What was the point? Even if she won, even if she became queen, she wouldn’t be able to free him. King Varick would never let the beast go.
The servants put her in a gown of deep crimson silk. The enchanted sword hung at her side, its three patterns still glowing faintly. Service, survival, love. “Are you ready?
” The beast’s voice was quiet in her mind. “Does it matter? Even if I win, I can’t save you. ”
“Don’t think about me.
Think about your future, your safety. ”
“He loves Rahilda,” Kova said, her laugh bitter. “He’s being forced into this just like I am. ”
“Then why continue?
”
“Because I promised you I would. Because you asked me to. ”
The beast was silent for a long moment. Then, so quietly, “I’m sorry.
”
Kova didn’t respond. The courtyard was packed. More spectators than ever before filled every balcony, every window, every available space. In the center of the courtyard, a raised platform had been constructed.
And on that platform sat a cage. An iron cage. Kova’s steps faltered. Then she saw what was inside it.
The beast. Her blood turned to ice. He stood motionless in the iron cage, massive and terrible in the morning light. Those crimson eyes found her immediately, and Kova could see everything—the tension in his form, the constant tremor.
He knew. He knew what was coming. “Kova the Orphan,” Rahilda’s voice rang out across the courtyard. “You have completed three trials.
You survived the beast. Retrieved a weapon from the Gauntlet. Faced yourself in the mirror trial and emerged worthy. ”
The crowd murmured with approval.
“Now comes the final test. The trials were designed with one purpose. To create a weapon capable of ending a threat to this kingdom. A beast that murdered the king’s beloved brother six years ago.
”
Kova’s heart stopped. “Wait,” her voice cracked. “Are you saying… all this… these trials were meant to—“
She met King Varick’s gaze and saw the answer there. Saw the cold determination.
This had never been about finding a queen. The trials had one purpose. To create someone capable of killing an unkillable beast. “The final trial is simple,” Rahilda continued.
“Strike the beast down. Avenge the fallen king. ”
The crowd erupted in cheers. “No,” Kova whispered.
But the word was lost in the roar. “Listen to me,” the beast’s voice pressed urgently into her mind. “This is what the trials were always for. This is how you win.
”
Kova’s head snapped toward the cage. “You knew? You knew this whole time? ”
“I’d hoped,” the beast replied quietly.
Kova’s heart lurched. He’d been helping her so she could kill him. Every word of guidance through the Gauntlet. Every moment of comfort.
All so she would be strong enough to end his life. King Varick rose from his throne, descending the steps. “Do you understand what is being asked of you? ”
“You want me to kill the beast,” she said through tears.
“I want you to avenge my brother. The creature in that cage murdered him. ”
“But it doesn’t remember killing your brother. It’s different now.
Look at it. It’s calm. You have some sort of insight into what this beast thinks? ”
“He’s my friend,” Kova said.
“Friend? Those who make friends with enemies of the crown should—“
“Varick! ” Rahilda’s voice cut through like a whip. She descended from the platform, moving to stand between them.
“The girl is worthy. She can end this. Don’t ruin it now. ”
King Varick closed his eyes, his jaw working.
When he turned back to Kova, his voice broke. “Please help us. It’s unkillable. We’ve tried everything.
”
“So you knew,” Kova whispered. “You knew it couldn’t be killed. ”
“The person who can kill this beast must survive it first. There was no other way.
Six years of knowing my brother’s murderer is locked beneath my feet, unkillable, untouchable. ” His voice broke completely. “If you kill it, you will be my queen. ”
“I don’t care about that,” Kova said.
“I wanted to set him free. ”
“You will,” the beast’s voice pressed into her mind. “Please. ”
Kova closed her eyes.
The courtyard held its breath. Slowly, she approached the cage. The beast stood on the other side, massive and terrible and utterly still. When she reached through the bars with one shaking hand, it moved forward and pressed its great head into her palm.
“It’s all right,” he said softly in her mind. “I’m not afraid. ”
Tears streamed down Kova’s face. Her hand trembled on the sword’s hilt as she unlocked the cage.
“Do it,” the beast said in her mind. “Set me free. ”
Kova raised the enchanted sword with shaking hands, then—
“No. ” The word fell into silence like a stone into still water.
King Varick leaned forward. “What? ”
“I said no,” Kova repeated, her voice stronger now. She turned to face the king, Rahilda, the assembled court.
“I won’t kill him. ”
Absolute silence, then chaos erupted. Nobles shouting, guards moving forward, the crowd surging with shock. King Varick descended from the platform in three long strides.
“You refuse? ”
“Yes. ”
“Do you understand what you’re throwing away? ”
“I never wanted the crown,” Kova said, meeting his gaze steadily despite her tears.
“I never wanted any of this. I only wanted to help him. ”
“It’s a beast, a monster. ”
“Then why is he standing there calmly instead of ripping me apart?
” Kova gestured to the beast. King Varick faltered, confusion flickering across his face. “He murdered my brother. He deserves to die.
”
“I will not kill him,” Kova announced to the entire courtyard. “He is my friend. ” She met the beast’s eyes. “I love him,” she murmured.
For a moment, no one moved. Then King Varick lunged forward, grabbing the enchanted sword from Kova’s hands. He raised the glowing blade, pointing it at the beast’s chest. “Varick!
” Rahilda screamed. “No, don’t! ”
King Varick froze. And in that moment of hesitation, the beast made a sound—low and broken, full of unbearable anguish.
His massive form began to shake violently. Then, impossibly, he began to change. The transformation was violent. The beast threw back his head and roared, a sound of pure agony that shook the courtyard walls.
His body convulsed, limbs twisting at impossible angles. His form began to shrink. The monstrous shape collapsed inward, reshaping into something smaller, something human. Where the beast had stood, a man now knelt on the stone platform.
Slowly, painfully, the man lifted his head. King Varick made a sound like his heart had been torn from his chest. “No,” he whispered, the sword clattering from his nerveless fingers. Kova saw the man’s eyes—no longer crimson, now a warm brown, human and achingly lost.
Sharp jawline, strong nose, dark hair falling across his forehead. This man was beautiful. Stunningly, impossibly beautiful. But where was the massive creature with matted fur and terrible claws?
Was this him? “Your Majesty, you’re alive,” someone said. “King Nero has returned. ”
The man’s head turned, confusion written across his features.
King Nero—the murdered king, the beast. They were the same person? Her beast was the king’s brother? King Varick stood as if turned to stone, his face white as death.
“Nero,” he whispered. The man, Nero, turned toward the voice. Recognition flickered in those brown eyes. “Varick.
” His voice was hoarse. Guards rushed to bring a cloak, and Nero pulled it around himself with shaking hands as his brother approached. “It’s really you,” Varick breathed. “You’re alive.
”
“I don’t understand what’s happening. ”
“You were dead. I found a beast in your chambers, covered in blood. It didn’t even smell like you.
It attacked me when I tried to find you. ”
Horror dawned on Varick’s face as the pieces fell into place. “I thought it had killed you. But it turns out… it was you.
And for six years, I’ve been—“
“Brother,” Nero interrupted. “I don’t understand. What happened to me? ”
But Varick couldn’t speak.
His shoulders shook with silent sobs. Nero looked around the courtyard, searching for answers. And then his eyes found Kova. He froze.
“Who is that? ” Nero asked, not taking his eyes off her. He took a step toward her. “I know you, don’t I?
”
Kova just stared, unable to form words. But then, she could feel something pressing against her mind—gentle, familiar, like when the beast had first touched her thoughts, but clearer now, more human. “I know you,” she heard him say, not aloud, but in her mind. Nero stood before her now.
Slowly, carefully, he raised his hand toward her face. “You brought me back,” he murmured, searching her eyes. “I was lost in darkness, drowning in it. And then there you were.
A light in the endless night. ”
His fingers touched her cheek, warm and gentle. And Kova felt the same warmth she’d felt with the beast, but stronger now, clearer. “You saved me,” Nero breathed, cupping her face.
“Kova,” Nero murmured. “That’s your name, isn’t it? ”
She nodded, then quickly lowered her eyes. “Yes, Your Highness.
I mean, Your Majesty. I’m sorry—”
Varick’s voice interrupted. “It is Your Majesty. ” He lifted the crown from his head.
“My brother is king. The rightful king. And he is back now. ”
He held the crown out to Nero, who stared at it as if it were a foreign object.
“I don’t remember. ”
“What do you remember? ” Varick asked gently. Nero’s brow furrowed.
“Pain. Darkness. ” He looked at Kova again. “And then her.
Her voice. ”
“But how? ” Varick turned to Rahilda, who stood frozen on the platform. “What magic could transform a man into—“
“It was me,” Rahilda said.
Varick stilled. The entire crowd seemed to still as Rahilda stepped forward, her hands trembling at her sides. “It was me. I did this.
The curse. All of it. ”
Varick’s face went white. “What are you saying?
”
“Six years ago, I cast a curse,” Rahilda said. “I thought you’d betrayed me. Thought you’d chosen duty over our love. I saw you embracing someone, and I thought… you’d cast me aside.
I wanted you to feel what I felt. So I cast a curse to transform you into something monstrous. I didn’t plan for it to be permanent. ”
Horror dawned on Varick’s face.
“But it wasn’t you,” Rahilda continued. “It wasn’t you when I entered those chambers where I’d planned to confront you. It was Nero. By the time I realized my mistake, the curse had already taken hold.
”
“You cursed me by accident? ” Nero asked. His voice was quiet, but there was no anger in it, only confusion. “Yes.
And I’ve regretted it every moment since. I tried to reverse it immediately, but you were already becoming the beast. ” She looked at Varick. “How could I tell you it was me?
That I’d done this to an innocent man because of my own jealous rage? ”
“So you just let me believe—for six years, you let me believe my brother was dead. ”
“I didn’t know how else to fix it. You would have had me arrested, but I needed to research how to help him.
And I found the only way to break a curse that strong. ” She looked at Kova. “Someone pure of heart who could see past the monster. Who could love him enough to refuse to kill him even when offered everything.
”
“Hence the trials,” Kova breathed. “I designed them to find that person. Either someone would love him enough to break the curse, or someone would be strong enough to end his pain. Either way, he’d be free.
”
“I tortured my brother for six years because you were too much of a coward to tell me the truth,” Varick roared. “I was trying to save him! ” Rahilda sobbed. “Please, Varick.
I’m sorry. ”
On the other side of the courtyard, Nero had stopped listening. His focus was entirely on Kova. He stepped closer, blocking out the chaos until it was just the two of them.
“Why didn’t you kill me? ” he asked quietly. “I begged you to end it. ”
“You remember,” Kova whispered.
“I remember you,” Nero said simply. “Your refusal to give up on me even when I’d given up on myself. ”
Kova’s vision blurred with tears. “I couldn’t lose you.
”
“Why not? ”
Kova opened her mouth. The words were right there, but they stuck in her throat. *Because I love you,* she thought.
Nero’s eyes widened slightly. Then a smile broke across his face. “I love you, too,” he whispered, pulling her close and kissing her. The bond between them blazed to life, golden and warm and right.
Behind them, Varick’s sobs echoed across the courtyard, and Rahilda knelt beside him, her own tears falling. But Nero and Kova stood rapt in each other. The trials were over. The beast was free.
And somehow, impossibly, love had won. Three months later, Kova found Nero in the library again. He sat curled in the window seat, a book open in his lap, staring out at the gardens with that distant look she’d come to recognize. Still searching for memories that wouldn’t come.
“You’re supposed to be reading,” she said gently. “I was. Then I started wondering if I’d read this before. If I liked it.
”
Kova took the book from his hands. “Then stop trying to remember. Let it come to you. ”
“What if it doesn’t?
” Nero asked, already leaning into her shoulder. “I don’t know how to be a king. I don’t even know if I want to be. ”
“You don’t have to decide today,” Kova murmured, running her fingers through his hair.
Nero was quiet for a moment. “Do you know what I do remember? ”
“What? ”
“This.
You. I may not remember being a king, but I know I’m yours. ”
Kova’s chest tightened with warmth. “Varick called me sister twice last week.
You saved his brother. ”
Nero smiled. “You’re family now. ”
“I don’t know what he plans to do about Rahilda, though,” Kova said carefully.
Nero sighed. “I told him it’s his choice, not mine. I barely remember being the beast, and what I do remember led me to you. ”
“She still cursed you.
For six whole years. ”
“She also designed the trials that brought you to me. If Varick still loves her—and I think he does—then he needs to find a way forward. ”
Kova leaned into his touch.
“You’re very wise for someone who doesn’t remember being a king. ”
Nero smiled. “Read to me,” he asked. So Kova read, and Nero listened, his head resting against her shoulder.
The bond between them humming with contentment. Outside, the kingdom waited patiently for its lost king to find himself again. There was no rush.
They had all the time in the world.
