Chapter 2

2.

The frost venom tortured me all night. The next morning, I dragged my exhausted body to the Shadow Palace.

Usually, I would be there to help Silas dress.

But it was Vivienne who opened the door. My head was spinning so fast that I accidentally bumped into her.

Vivienne was fragile. She fell heavily to the floor.

Silas heard the noise and stormed out. He shoved me aside and pulled her into his arms. "Vivienne! Are you okay?"

Vivienne's eyes flickered. She looked at him with tears ready to fall.

I tried to explain, but someone shoved me hard from behind. Caspian ran in, glaring at me. "Seraphina! You're just jealous of Auntie Vivienne. How could you attack her while she's injured?"

The wounds on my back tore open again. Blood soaked through my shirt. I stumbled, clutching the wall. "I'm sorry, I just..."

In my confusion, I accidentally stepped on the hem of Vivienne's dress. She began to cry. "Seraphina, I didn't mean to stay at the palace. Silas was just worried about my wounds..."

I stood there, speechless. I knew I wouldn't get a chance to defend myself.

Silas looked at me with eyes full of ice. "Kneel. Apologize to Vivienne."

I refused to bend. Caspian grabbed my shoulders and forced me down. My knees hit the stone floor in front of Vivienne.

A strange sense of calm washed over me. I looked at the men who were forcing me to apologize to a mistress. I started to laugh quietly. "Silas, I was never allowed to stay the night in this palace. I was never allowed to heal at the Moon Altar. Since you love her so much, why don't you just marry her?"

I looked at Caspian. "I poured my soul into raising you. I warmed your medicine with my own body in the winter. I fanned you all night in the summer. Caspian, my conscience is clear. Why won't you just let me go?"

Tears rolled down my pale face. I must have looked pathetic.

Silas and Caspian remained unmoved. They both looked at me with the same coldness. "Seraphina, what kind of drama are you trying to start now?"

Vivienne reached out to touch me, acting like she was being kind. I pulled away.

Caspian shielded her and screamed at me. "You aren't my mother! You're just a low-born stray my real mother took in. You're a loser. You don't deserve to raise me, and you definitely don't deserve my father!"

I smiled. Finally, he said it.

I was his shame. I couldn't give him power or status. It made sense that he hated me.

I nodded slowly and forced myself to stand up. My wounds were screaming, but I didn't care.

"Fine. I won't be your mother anymore."

Caspian looked stunned for a second, then he sneered and led Vivienne away. "Good. I've been waiting for that."

I stood alone with Silas in the grand hall.

He was as calm as ever, just like he had been for the last hundred years.

This time, my heart didn't ache. "Silas, I don't want to be your wife anymore. I'm leaving."

His eyes narrowed. "Seraphina, just because I punished you? How long are you going to keep acting like a child?"

I reached into my robe and pulled out a jade locket.

It was the token Silas gave me on our wedding day. It belonged to the wives of the Shadow Kings.

I placed it gently on the floor and bowed one last time.

"On our wedding night, you said this locket meant we would be of one heart. Now, I'm giving it back. I wish we had never met."

Silas's face darkened. He kicked the locket across the room. "Seraphina, you can't leave the Shadow Realm. We have a Soul-Bond. I can find you no matter where you run."

He was the King of the Shadow Realm. I was a nobody with a bond tied to his soul. Where could I go?

I didn't answer. I just walked out of the palace that never felt like home.

Behind me, I heard the sound of him smashing a glass against the wall.