The Dragon King's Hated Bride
Chapter 103: A Prophecy?

Chapter 103: A Prophecy?

>>Aelin

Something... shifted.

Not in the room. Not in the earth beneath us.

Inside me.

A strange, foreign sensation swept through my chest, as though something ancient had stirred from deep slumber, pressing its fingers into my ribs. I inhaled sharply, my breath catching in my throat as a chill coursed down my spine.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Seraphine’s gaze didn’t leave mine. Her purple eyes—so much like Draegon’s, but softer, weighed with centuries of pain—seemed to look through me. Into me.

"There’s a story," she said, her voice barely audible over the distant screams of war outside. "More of a prophecy, really. Passed down in the old tongue. From where I come from. A land now lost."

She turned her eyes to the window again, watching the blood-red sky with a wistful look. "When the darkness awakens again to consume the world... when the Eye returns... it is said a descendant of the Solwyn line will rise. The last light. To break the night."

Solwyn.

That name—hearing it sent a jolt through me, like a bell struck inside my chest.

I went still as my skin stood up.

Every thought scattered like startled birds. My heart thudded so loudly it muffled the world around me. Solwyn.

The name of the tribe I read in that ancient book. The people with the symbol of the sun on their foreheads... The same king I have

And yet...

My body trembled. My lips parted but no words came out.

Couldn’t be.

No. No, it’s just a coincidence. A story. A myth.

She said it’s a story from where she’s from- But no- she also said it is more of a prophecy.

But still, I sat there, wide-eyed, frozen, panic prickling beneath my skin.

Another tremor hit the building, harder this time. The stone groaned, and dust rained down from the cracked ceiling. A painting fell from the wall and shattered against the floor.

I jumped to my feet. "We have to leave," I said, trying to sound calm, but the fear wove into my voice like thread through cloth. "Now. This place isn’t safe. If one of those things makes it this far—"

But I didn’t get to finish.

Because at that very moment, the wall behind us exploded in a burst of debris and wind.

!?!?

Glass and brick flew inward as a horrific creature slammed through the open window, wings spread wide like jagged blades, its oily black skin crawling with pulsing veins of violet light. Its mouth—if it could be called that—gaped with rows of fangs too large for its skull, and that one massive, lidless eye rolled forward to focus directly on us.

I panicked

The monster’s roar filled the room, a sound that scraped against my bones.

I couldn’t move.

The thing was massive—hulking and twisted, its body a nightmare of rotting flesh and writhing veins, a dark mist rising from its skin like smoke off burning tar. Its mouth opened too wide, revealing jagged, dripping teeth, and one massive claw reached forward—for me.

I stumbled back, my shoulder slamming into the cold wall. A scream clawed its way up my throat, but it never made it out. My legs wouldn’t listen. My heart pounded like a war drum inside my chest, and my breaths came out fast and sharp.

This was it.

And then—

A figure stepped in front of me.

My eyes widened as I realized who it was.

Seraphine?!?

Her frail form moved with surprising clarity, slipping between me and the monster without hesitation. Her arm lifted slowly, almost like a dance—trembling slightly, but steady in its intent. She didn’t look back at me. Didn’t speak.

She just stood there. Guarding me.

I stared at her back, stunned. For a moment... I felt safe. I never thought she would protect me like that.

But that feeling soured into something else—something raw and burning.

Shame.

Why was she the one protecting me? Me—young, healthy, a queen. And she—thin, forgotten, locked away for years—stood where I should have. I should be the one in front. I should be the one shielding her.

But I wasn’t.

I had frozen. Again.

My eyes burned with tears I refused to let fall.

The monster shrieked again, louder this time, the sound clawing down my spine. It lunged. Seraphine didn’t flinch. I tried to move, to grab her, to pull her away—but fear held me in place.

I shut my eyes, bracing for pain, for the final blow.

But it never came.

Silence.

No impact. No scream of pain,

Rather there was some other noise.

I opened my eyes to the sound of a monstrous groan—but there was no pain, no claws tearing into me. Only a blur of silver and crimson light.

Ariston.

He was already inside the room, his face twisted with fury. His blade was embedded deep in the monster’s side, and with a sharp cry, he ripped it free only to plunge it again—this time into the creature’s leg, then again into the thick hide of its neck.

I couldn’t breathe. Everything had happened so fast. The monster didn’t even have time to screech again before Ariston’s sword severed its head clean from its body.

It hit the stone floor with a heavy thud—but even then, Ariston didn’t stop.

I watched, stunned, as he gripped the edge of the gaping wound at the creature’s neck and dug his hand inside. Black, tar-like blood oozed around his fingers.

What is he doing?

He looks so agitated.

And then, he pulled something out—the core. A solid, dark orb, pulsing faintly like a beating heart.

My breath hitched. The core!!

Oh right! Of course! How could that slip my mind!?!?

Without wasting a moment, Ariston grabbed the hilt of his sword and pressed the black core against it. I hadn’t noticed it that deeply before, but there was a red magic stone there. His lips moved fast, too fast to catch the words, but I felt the magic stir in the air. A sudden, unnatural heat bloomed in the room.

And then the core ignited.

!!!

Blue fire engulfed the orb, consuming it until it cracked and shattered in his hand, the dark magic within it burning into ash. The stench of corrupted power vanished with the fire, leaving behind a sickly, charred silence.

Oh....

I was still against the wall, my heart thundering as if trying to escape my chest. I turned to Seraphine, who was breathing heavily, her arm still half-raised in front of me like a protective wall.

She looked at Ariston with a strange calm in her eyes.

And I—

I didn’t know what to say.

He saved us... If he hadn’t come... I wonder what would have happened.

I would have died... wouldn’t I?

Of course that would have happened. After all, I’d done nothing but close my eyes and wait for death.

Ariston turned to us, his chest rising and falling with sharp, controlled breaths. The remnants of smoke still curled around the shattered monster core at his feet.

He extended his hand to me. "We have to go. Now," he said, voice clipped, urgent. "There’ll be more coming."

His palm was smeared with black blood, still warm from battle, fingers outstretched toward me.

It was a simple gesture. He wanted me to take his hand so we could get moving.

But I just stared at it.

I didn’t move.

Not an ounce of me wanted to take it.