"It is the bond."
Eliora's breath stopped. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Maelina tiled her head to the side and smiled. "You have been avoiding the king, my queen."
"I am not." Eliora's voice cracked. "I'm not anyone's queen!"
Maelina only watched her. "You bear the mark of the soulmate and so does he. What burns on your neckbone burns on his chest. It is the bond that connects your souls. And it has been sealed."
Eliora gripped the bedframe. "I...I'm human. I'm no one. He's...he's the king."
"And you are the one fate wrote for him," Maelina whispered.
Eliora shook her head. "But this doesn't make sene. The bond is rare, it happens to powerful, gifted beasts, not... not me." Her voice cracked. "I can't be his soulmate."
Maelina's gaze softened. "But you are."
"This is a nightmare," she whispered. "It has to be. It...it has to be."
Maelina crouched to her level, though she still didn't dare to touch her. "My queen… the weakness you feel, the fever, the tremors… they are the effects of resisting the pull."
Eliora's breath shuddered painfully as she listened.
"The king suffers them too," Maelina informed her.
She knew. Eliora knew he suffered them too.
Everyone knew his beast was in control these days. They all heard his roar. It had become too frequent.
She swallowed. "He feels this?"
"Worse," Maelina said. "Much worse. He is the stronger soul, the strain falls harder on him."
Eliora felt cold all over.
"And unless you complete the mating, you both will continue to weaken." Maelina whispered.
Eliora's voice cracked. "Am I… am I going to die?"
"Yes. If the bond is ignored long enough...both of you will."
"How much longer do we have?" Eliora asked.
"Few days."
Eliora placed her shaking hands over her mouth, muffling her sob.
"I am here to guide you," Maelina assured her. "And for your sake, I beg you, please, stop running from him."
The room felt so small to Eliora. She was going to die?
"His Majesty will not harm you," Maelina said gently, as though she could read her panic directly from her pulse.
"That isn't..." Eliora swallowed. "That isn't what frightens me most."
Maelina nodded, waiting for her to continue.
Eliora hesitated, but the fear and confusion she felt forced the words out of her. "How can I be his soulmate? I'm human."
Maelina's expression softened in a way Eliora hadn't expected from one so revered by beasts.
"You ask that as though humanity is a flaw," she murmured.
Eliora's throat tightened. "Isn't it? To them?"
The Seer moved closer, "The bond does not see species. It sees souls. And his soul recognized yours."
"That doesn't make sense," Eliora whispered, shaking her head. "He is powerful. Feared. Ancient, and I…" She looked down at her hands. "I'm nobody. I'm just a baker's daughter from a small village. I can't even defend myself."
"You underestimate yourself," the Seer said.
"But how am I supposed to be queen?" Eliora whispered, "How can a human rule over beasts?"
"You do not rule beasts through fear," Maelina said. "You rule them by being exactly what the bond created you to be; his equal."
The anger rising in her chest finally outweighed the fear. "I can't just go to him," she whispered harshly. "You talk like this bond is some blessing, like I should be grateful."
Her voice cracked, but her eyes did not waver. "He's the beast King. I know what beasts do to humans. I know what he has done."
Maelina's expression didn't change, but something flashed behind her eyes.
Eliora swallowed hard, the words she'd held in for weeks finally slipping free. "My village was burned," she whispered. "My parents may be dead because of beasts...because of his rule. And now I'm supposed to believe fate bonded me to the monster responsible?"
Her voice broke on the last word.
Maelina closed her eyes briefly as though pained by something she could not say aloud, but when she opened them again, her voice was controlled. "There are things you do not understand, my queen."
"Then make me understand."
For a moment, Maelina looked like she wanted to, but then she shook her head.
"I cannot speak of what is not mine to reveal."
Eliora's hands curled into fists. "So you expect me to accept a bond I never wanted, with a king who tore my world apart, just because you said so?"
"No," Maelina said. "I expect you to know that not everything you believe is true. And not everything you were told was complete."
Eliora blinked, thrown off. "What does that even mean?"
Maelina's gaze softened, but she didn't clarify. Instead, she stepped back, folding her hands in front of her.
"Do not judge His Majesty solely based on stories, rumors, or the sins of others," she said. "At least, not until you get to know him."
"I won't force you toward the bond," she continued, "but you must know this, resisting it is killing you both."
Eliora looked away, tears stinging her eyes again. "Even if… even if I go to him, I won't forgive him. Not easily."
Maelina nodded. "You are not required to."
That surprised her.
The Seer's voice softened even further. "You are only required to complete the bond. The rest… time will decide."
Eliora placed her fingers over her soulmate mark, feeling it pulse. "I don't want him," she said, her voice cracking. "I don't want this life. I'm still human. I'm still nothing compared to him."
Maelina exhaled slowly. "Fragile? Yes. Mortal? Yes, but nothing, nothing, in this world forms a soulmate bond with a beast king unless they are strong enough to stand beside him."
"Fate does not ask permission," she murmured. "But it also does not chain you without reason. One day, you may see why."
Eliora shook her head stubbornly. "I doubt it."
Maelina smiled faintly. "Some soulmates said the same. And they were beasts."
She turned to the door. "But until then," she said without looking back, "remember this, unless you see him soon, the bond will tear at both your souls until neither of you survives it."
The door clicked softly behind her.