CHAPTER 118: THE KING'S ATTENTION

CHAPTER 118: THE KING'S ATTENTION

POV: Kristine
They came for me at midday.
Not the usual escort.
Three armed soldiers waited outside my room instead of two, and beside them stood a woman I had never seen before—tall, expressionless, dressed in dark gray rather than harem silk. Not a servant.
A handler.
Someone trained to control difficult women.
I rose slowly and followed without resistance.
Refusing too early would only tighten the cage.
As we moved through the crowded palace corridors, I calculated everything.
Three guards meant Zedrak no longer considered me ordinary.
Which meant someone had talked.
The question was who.
The room they brought me to was not the throne hall.
Smaller.
Private.
A receiving chamber lined with dark tapestries and polished stone. A narrow window overlooked the black river below. Fire burned in the wall despite the heat, more for intimidation than comfort.
Zedrak stood beside the window when I entered.
No armor today.
Only a dark robe.
That made him more dangerous somehow.
Less king.
More predator.
He didn’t turn immediately.
He let silence settle first.
Testing whether I would fill it.
I crossed the room and sat down without permission.
That made him turn.
His eyes fixed on me instantly.
“You’re not afraid of me,” he said.
“I was,” I answered. “Then I learned fear wastes time.”
A flicker of interest crossed his face.
“How did you stop being afraid?”
“I made a decision.”
“And what decision was that?”
“That you can bleed.”
The room went still.
The guards shifted uneasily behind me.
Zedrak studied me carefully now, like a man handling something sharper than expected.
Then he looked toward the door.
“Bring her in.”
The handler opened it.
The young girl from the common room stepped inside.
Seventeen.
Thin.
Terrified.
The same girl who had seen Kamal’s note three mornings ago.
The same girl I warned to stay silent.
She couldn’t meet my eyes.
Her hands trembled as she clasped them together.
Zedrak watched both of us carefully.
“She came to me last night,” he said. “With a very interesting story.”
The girl flinched.
“She told me there is a woman in my harem receiving coded messages.” He tilted his head slightly. “A woman speaking about gates and bridges. A woman hiding something beneath her skirts.”
The girl still stared at the floor.
Fear made people trade terrible things.
In this palace, information was survival.
“I was also told,” Zedrak continued softly, “that an old prisoner spoke your name on your first day here.” He paused. “Kristine. From Earth.”
Silence settled heavily between us.
“That is your name,” he said.
“Yes.”
The girl closed her eyes briefly.
Regret.
Zedrak dismissed her with one wave of his hand.
She hurried out without looking at me.
The door shut softly behind her.
Then we were alone except for the guards.
Zedrak sat across from me slowly.
“Kristine from Earth,” he murmured. “The woman named in the prophecy.”
“I didn’t realize I was famous.”
“You are something much more dangerous than famous.”
His eyes remained fixed on me.
“I’ve searched for you for many years.”
“And now I’m here.”
“In my palace,” he said softly. “Inside my harem.” Something dark moved behind his expression. “That makes you either brave or foolish.”
“I came for my son.”
That caught his attention immediately.
The smallest stillness.
“And for the prisoners you buried beneath this palace,” I continued. “And because this is where your story ends.”
The fire crackled sharply.
Zedrak leaned back slightly.
“You speak like someone who believes she already won.”
“No,” I said quietly. “I speak like someone who knows you’re afraid.”
Coldness entered his face instantly.
“I fear nothing.”
“You destroyed your own oracle because it told you something you didn’t want to hear.”
The guards shifted again.
But I kept going.
“You built an empire around a corrupted prophecy,” I said. “You were so terrified of losing power that you twisted the meaning until it became useful to you.”
His voice dropped lower.
“Careful.”
“The prophecy was never about a son,” I continued.
That made him go perfectly still.
“The child of two worlds was meant to become a bridge,” I said. “Not a weapon.”
“Who told you this?”
His calm was thinner now.
Sharper.
“Someone who remembers the original Velari records,” I answered.
For the first time since entering the room, genuine fury flashed through his eyes.
“Sira,” he said softly.
I stayed silent.
That silence confirmed enough.
Zedrak rose slowly from his chair.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop with him.
“You think you understand destiny?” he asked. “You know nothing about what it costs to control worlds.”
“You don’t control them,” I said. “You crush them.”
His jaw tightened.
“I united OX.”
“You burned kingdoms.”
“I brought order.”
“You brought fear.”
The fire snapped loudly between us.
Then suddenly he smiled.
That frightened me more than the anger.
“I’ve made a decision,” he said.
I already hated the sound of that.
“I’m going to make you my queen.”
“No.”
The word left my mouth instantly.
His eyebrow lifted slightly, almost curious.
“You believe refusal matters?”
“I believe you’re desperate.”
His expression darkened.
“The prophecy requires an heir,” he said calmly. “And you will give me one.”
“The prophecy says your reign ends.”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“You think carrying that child makes you powerful?”
“No,” I said softly. “Loving him does.”
For one dangerous second, murder moved openly across his face.
Then control returned.
Barely.
“You will attend tonight’s banquet beside me,” he said. “And you will begin understanding your future.”
“I already understand it.”
“And what future is that?”
I stood slowly.
“The one where you die.”
The guards immediately tensed.
But Zedrak lifted one hand slightly, stopping them.
His eyes never left mine.
“You have spirit,” he said quietly. “That’s why this interests me.”
“This?”
“You.”
The word felt like poison.
I moved toward the door.
Then his voice stopped me.
“Kristine.”
I turned carefully.
He stood beside the fire now, shadows moving across his face.
“I will discover everyone helping you,” he said softly. “And when I do, I’ll kill them slowly enough for you to hear them scream.”
Fear hit me hard at that.
Not for myself.
For Sira.
For Eli.
For Tyron.
But I refused to let him see it.
“You’ll try,” I said.
Then I walked out.
My heartbeat thundered the entire way back to my room.
I kept my face calm until the door locked behind me.
Only then did my hands start shaking.
He knew my name.
He suspected the sword.
And now he suspected Sira too.
Everything was accelerating.
I pulled the blue stone from my pocket and pressed it tightly against my chest.
The original plan had been four hours after midnight.
Not anymore.
I moved to the wall and tapped three short knocks and one long.
Eli answered immediately from the other side.
“Change of plans,” I whispered through the crack. “Two hours after midnight. Tell Kamal.”
A pause.
Then three short taps.
Understood.
I leaned my forehead against the cold stone wall.
Tonight the palace would burn.
And somehow, before dawn, I had to keep everyone alive.