Chapter 37 A Hard Choice
CHAPTER 37: A Hard Choice
Seraphine's POV
“What?!” I whispered sharply. “Uncle? What are you doing here?!”
His shadow shifted outside my window and before I could speak again, a familiar rough hand came up with his palm facing me.
“Quiet, girl,” Magnus hissed. “Unless you want the whole palace on you.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth and stared. My uncle Magnus... very much alive, very much real... was balanced on the narrow stone ledge outside my window like it was a marketplace bench and not a deadly drop. The moonlight caught the scar on his cheek, the one he got when I was fifteen and thought playing with fire was a smart idea. Seeing him made my chest tighten in a way I wasn’t ready for.
“Can I come in,” he whispered, “or are you going to keep gaping like you’ve seen a ghost?”
I rushed forward and pulled the window wider.
“Get in. Now.”
He slipped inside with smooth ease with his boots barely making a sound as they hit the floor. I shut the window fast and pressed my back to it was my heart racing. For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then he shook his head slowly, eyes scanning me from head to toe.
“You look… annoyingly alive,” he muttered.
I snorted despite myself.
“You too. How did you even get in here? This place is crawling with Lycan soldiers.”
Magnus shrugged as if he’d walked in through the front gate.
“They’re good. But they’re not better than me.”
I folded my arms.
“You’re insane.”
“And yet,” he said, smirking faintly, “here I am.”
I lowered my voice again and moved us farther from the door.
“I thought you've forgotten all about me. I thought you've left me out here alone. Aric...”
“...stoped me from visiting,” Magnus cut in with his jaw tightening. “He's made it clear more than once when I tried to visit. I'm bo longer welcomed here. So I went for an alternative.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“You snuck past an entire Lycan palace.”
“Not only you have skills, Seraphine,” he said quietly.
For a moment, it felt almost normal like I was back home, sitting by the fire while Magnus complained about the world and told me not to trust anyone who smiled too easily.. the feeling didn’t last.
His expression changed with the humor draining from his face like water from a cracked cup. He stepped closer, lowering his voice even more.
“I didn’t come here to check if you were eating well.”
My shoulders stiffened.
“Then why are you here?”
He stared at me hard.
“Because you’ve disappointed me.”
That one hit badly amd I laughed softly, sharply and uneasily.
“That’s your opening? No ‘I missed you’? No ‘are you safe’?”
“You are not a child,” Magnus snapped. “And safety was never the point.”
Anger suddenly burned in my chest.
“Then say what you came to say.”
He drew in a slow breath.
“You’ve disappointed me,” he repeated, colder now. “And not just me. Your parents would be ashamed.”
My hands curled into fists.
“Don’t you dare...”
“I will dare,” he said firmly. “Because I buried them.. because even though I wasn't there I watched Red River Village burn while you scream their names every night in my nightmares! Because everything you are now was built on that night!”
Silence pressed in around us and Magnus went on, voice low and cutting.
“Do you remember why I convinced King Greyjoy to send you here as Aric’s bride?”
My stomach dropped.
“You said it was strategy.”
“It was,” he said. “A blade placed close to the Lycan King’s throat.”
I stared at him.
“You wanted me to kill Aric.”
“Yes. More then that.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t understand...”
“I understand perfectly,” he snapped. “You were sent here to finish this. And instead?” His lip curled. “You linger, you eat at his table, you share his space and if rumors are true, you're sleeping with him!”
“That’s not fair,” I shot back. “I’m making progress.”
Magnus let out a laugh.
“Progress? By sleeping with him?”
My face burned.
“That is not...”
“By riding into meetings on his back?” he continued sharply.
I froze.
“How do you know that?”
“I hear things,” he said flatly. “From everywhere.”
I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing now.
“You think this is easy? You think I don’t remember why I’m here every single day?”
“Then why is he still breathing?” Magnus demanded.
“Because rushing this will get me killed,” I snapped. “Because I need the right moment. Because I need him to trust me.”
Magnus scoffed.
“Trust. Listen to yourself.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice.
“I will do it. I swear. I just need time.”
His eyes searched my face hard and unforgiving. Then, slowly, something shifted amd his voice dropped, rougher now.
“Remember your mother’s hands,” he said quietly. “How they smelled of bread and smoke. Remember your father’s laugh and most importantly remember the screams that night, the blood, the fire and the way the Lycans took your chance at a normal life and crushed it.”
My throat tightened.
“Do not forget who you are,” Magnus finished.
I swallowed hard and nodded once.
“I won’t.”
He held my gaze a second longer, then stepped back toward the window.
“See that you don’t.”
With one last look, he slipped out into the night, disappearing like he’d never been there at all.
I stood alone for a long time after that. The room felt too quiet, too still. Finally, I went to the bed and pulled the knife from where I’d hidden it, laying it beside me on the sheets and I stared at it.
I’d held weapons since I was a girl. I’d killed without shaking. But now my fingers trembled as they brushed the hilt and my heart was pounding in a way that was honestly annoying.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered.
Aric wasn’t the one who led the attack on Red River Village. I knew that now but he was still a Lycan. Still the king! Still the man who had broken my heart in ways I didn’t want to name!
Maybe part of me still wanted to kill him for that.
I took a deep breath and forced my thoughts into order. Tonight.. it ends tonight so I waited…
Aric didn’t come to my room like I thought he would. Hours passed and eventually, I heard movement next door with the sound of him returning to his chambers.
The palace grew quiet, the night deepened and when I was sure everyone slept, I took the knife and eased my door open, slipping into the darkness. He lay asleep, breathing slow and steady.
I stood beside his bed, raised the knife and fought the bond screaming inside me to stop but then I made my choice and the blade began to fall…