Elis
I stood motionless on the high balcony, where I paced while brooding for minutes, fingers gripping the cold stone railing like it might anchor me to reason. Below, she knelt. Lily. Graceful, delicate, her hands steady as she poured scented water over Zeena's feet. The task looked ceremonial and respectful. But to me? It was a wound. My mate. Kneeling like a servant.
A growl stirred inside me, low and resentful. My wolf. He hadn't made a sound in years. Not since the curse took hold. Not since I buried every trace of my beast under chains of control and cold logic. But now? He paced, snarling beneath my skin. Because of her.
The night of the queer full moon still burned behind my eyes. I'd felt her, truly felt her and it had terrified me. My curse had robbed me of the most basic connection a wolf should have: the bond. The shift. The future. And yet, with Lily, something broke through. Or maybe something healed. The memory of her body against mine, of the way her scent had wrapped around me like fate itself, clawed its way back to the surface. My wolf had stirred. Not a hallucination. Not a dream. It had been real.
But why her? What was she to me, besides a spark in the dark? A servant with too-quiet eyes and hands that healed? No. Not just that. Never just that. Even now, I couldn't look away. I watched her as she dried her hands on her apron, her eyes fixed on the floor as Zeena barely acknowledged her presence. The sight raked at me. It had to stop.
But I couldn't act on instinct. Not now. Zeena was too clever, too possessive. If she caught the scent of my interest, she'd sink her claws deeper. She'd hurt Lily. Use her to get to me. The entire court would. So I'd do what I always did; move in silence, strike with care. She would not serve here another day. She deserved to be at my side. Whether she believed it or not. Whether she hated me for leaving her or not. I could no longer deny what she was. Mine. And I would find a way to claim her, no matter what it cost.
***
Lily's pov
The parchment came during the quiet lull after the midday meal. A guard entered, wearing black and silver armor gleaming and bowed before Princess Zeena. No one moved, not even the breeze through the curtains.
She broke the seal without ceremony. Her eyes swept the page, and I caught the faint narrowing of her gaze. "The King has promoted your maid, Lily," she read, voice flat, "to the position of royal healer. This is her reward for healing Omega Eunice. A replacement will be sent to serve you."
I froze. Me? Royal healer?
Zeena's lips thinned. She liked control. She liked predictability. I had become both an extension of her routine. Now, she was losing that. And she didn't like it. Still, she said nothing more.
A moment later, she called my name, and I stepped forward, wiping my hands on my apron without thinking. "You called, my lady?"
Her eyes, cool and unreadable, flicked over me. "Pack your things. You are to report to the chief maid. You've been promoted."
I blinked. "What? I… I don't understand."
Zeena didn't indulge me. "It's done." No more words. Just a finality that made me feel like I was being traded.
I bowed. "Yes, my lady." I didn't understand. I wasn't a healer. Not truly. I had agreed to tend to Eunice because no one else did. Because she was dying and no one cared. Because she mattered. But now I was being moved like a pawn on a chessboard I couldn't see. Eunice was never ill. The whispers were just a ploy, another trick by the king to lure me to him and interrogate me.
So why this sudden promotion? What game is he playing now? And do I even get a say in any of it?
***
I expected to find the chief maid waiting, but instead I found Eunice. She looked different; no longer pale and fragile, but radiant, dressed in emerald silk, a knowing smile on her lips. "Come, child," she said, taking my hand. "Let me show you your new home."
My heart beat unevenly as we walked through unfamiliar halls that appear longer, wider and richer. I felt as though I was stepping into someone else's life. Then she opened the door. I couldn't move. The room was enormous. Gilded mirrors, silks, gold-threaded bedding, gowns that looked too fine to touch. I felt like I had stepped into a dream… or a trap.
"I don't need this," I whispered. "I don't want special treatment."
"You deserve this," Eunice said gently. "And much more. It is your destiny. Do not reject it."
Destiny. The word struck a place in me I rarely touched. My grandmother's voice echoed faintly: "When the time comes for you to sit with royalty, do not decline it." I hadn't thought about those words in years. They'd sounded like bedtime stories then. Not prophecy.
Eunice brushed a stray strand of hair from my cheek, her fingers soft, almost reverent. "Come. Let's get you settled."
She left me after a while, and I wandered the room, still trying to make sense of it all. My fingers trailed over the carved edges of the wardrobe, the lace-trimmed linens. I should have felt grateful. But instead, I felt hunted.
I stepped out into the garden beyond the glass doors. The air smelled like earth and growing things. There were rows of bare soil, just waiting to be claimed. A space to grow herbs. I thought. My herbs. And my roots. A piece of myself in a world that was suddenly spinning too fast.
Later, Sara burst in, wide-eyed and breathless. "You did it, Lily!" she grinned, spinning in the center of the room like she belonged there more than I did. "I knew there was something extraordinary about you!"
I smiled weakly, brushing a hand over the silks again. "I didn't ask for this."
Sara's laughter was light. "Destiny doesn't ask for permission."
That night, we dined together. We laughed. We shared secrets and dreams like nothing had changed. But everything had. And somewhere deep down, a quiet voice whispered…This is only the beginning. Of what, I didn't know. But it scared me. And thrilled me all the same.