The Dragon King's Hated Bride
Chapter 105: My Powers

Chapter 105: My Powers

>>Aelin

Time didn’t slow down. It shattered.

Each heartbeat was a thud in my ears. Each breath burned like fire in my lungs. The monster’s presence was so suffocating, I could barely tell whether the pressure in my chest came from outside or from within.

My feet refused to move. My hands were shaking. My mind screamed the same useless thought over and over.

You’re going to die.

Because I had frozen again. But I was also filled with shame and I knew if I ran I would never get past this. Because if I ran again, I would look at myself how everyone else looks at me.

With Shame.

That filthy, ugly thing I thought I had buried in the dirt of the human kingdom, only for it to rise again like a phantom.

You’re just a girl who was beaten down so often, you began to believe you deserved it.

My eyes locked with the monster’s.

And for one breath, one blink, I didn’t see the dark beast in front of me—I saw them. The people who had shoved me, mocked me, spat at me like I was less than dirt. The guards who had looked away. The maids who whispered when they thought I couldn’t hear.

The king—my father—who never once tried to protect me.

I remembered the hollow feeling in my chest as I curled in corners. I remembered the sting of bruises. I remembered the aching loneliness of silence.

I locked eyes with the monster, unsure how to deal with this alone. My mind seemed to be racing. I knew I can do something but-

Before more doubt came reeling in, I heard him.

Through the smoke, the crumbling stone, the chaos of it all—his voice found me.

"Form a wall! Don’t let them break the lines!"

Draegon!!!

It hit me like a heartbeat after silence.

His voice was thunder and iron, sharp and clear, grounding the world in a way nothing else could. While monsters screamed and magic cracked the sky open above us—he stood firm. He commanded the storm.

"Protect the wounded—pull them back to the central corridor!"

The breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding slipped from my lips, shaky, but real. I could feel my fingers again. My feet. The tremor in my chest didn’t vanish, but it softened—like a blade being lowered.

I clenched my jaw.

And I moved.

I didn’t even realize it at first. But my feet shifted back. My arms raised slightly, as if my body remembered something my mind had forgotten.

I heard Ariston shouting my name again. But I barely registered it. My eyes were locked on the beast.

Not with terror anymore.

But with defiance. My husband is out there being a leader once again, how can I drown in shame? I have to fight!

I have to!!

I could feel it in my bones. Something ancient. Something old.

Power. Not just magical—but raw, human will.

I wasn’t helpless.

I wasn’t just a bride in a crown.

And I wasn’t going to die with that shame choking me.

I would not let Seraphine see me crumble. I can’t have her thinking her son is married to a coward.

I would not let Draegon return and find my body broken on the floor.

I am the Queen of Demons now.

And I will fight.

Even if I had never raised a sword.

Even if I didn’t know what I was doing.

I would try.

For once in my life, I would try.

And so I stood tall.

My limbs were still shaking, but I did not retreat.

The monster growled again, louder now, sensing the shift in me. Its limbs braced for a charge.

I braced too.

Not to run.

But to meet it.

Let it come.

Let it try.

Because if I was going to fall, I would fall facing forward.

My hand lifted on its own. There was no thought behind it, just something raw and instinctive. And then I felt it—warmth blooming at the center of my forehead.

A pulse of heat. Then light.

A symbol I couldn’t see, but knew. It was the symbol of the sun that appeared when I used this power.

My palm tingled, and then I saw it—thin and golden, a glowing string of light flowing from my skin as if it had always been waiting to be summoned. It moved with intent, pure and sure, lashing out toward the creature still poised to attack me. The golden thread wrapped tight around its leg like a shackle forged of fire and will.

The monster roared, jerking in confusion. The threat wasn’t visible to it, but it must have felt something was off.

It looked at me.

I could feel the power swirling around me, in me, through me.

The monster lunged.

And I didn’t run.

I didn’t even flinch.

>>Seraphine

I was about to run in when I saw the child was going to get attacked but just as I took a step forward a sword flung right in front of me

!!!

I paused as I saw the sharp blade blocking my path and shot my head to my side to look at the guard. He had his eyes on Aelin, the monster attacked but he didn’t move and didn’t let me move either.

I found it weird at how he was looking at her

Like he was observing her

What is he doing? He’s not going to help her?

I shot my head back at her and noticed something on her forehead that made me gasp softly.

>>Aelin

I took a breath, opened my mouth—and the words came."Condemn the dark ones back to where there is no light..." The fire in my palm flared. I could see it reflected in the beast’s hollow eyes. "Burn the bones to ashes, flesh to dust—ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

It was leaping now. Claws extended. Mouth wide.

I didn’t stop.

"Let the winds scatter their remnants to the void,

Seal the rift, bind the breach, by the ancient oath of fire and flame..."

Golden light swirled, condensed, burned.

"By my will, by my power..." I looked it in the eye. "Let their essence—be undone!"

The fire exploded from my hand.

Holy fire.

It struck the beast in the leg mid-leap, and immediately spread to the rest of its body, and everything stopped. The force of it flung the creature backward, hurling it across the room. And as it flew, it burned. The fire didn’t consume it—it unmade it.

Black flesh cracked open. Bones turned to dust. Its core—twisted and pulsing with darkness—split wide in a burst of gold and vanished.

Ash rained to the ground.

I stood frozen, breathing hard, my palm still glowing.

And the silence that followed was deafening.

Not fear. Not shame.

Only the sound of my own heart thundering in my chest

I did it.

I looked at my palms. I really did it! I fought the fear-

But right then the wall burst again and more monsters crashed inside.

!!???

It was like I wasn’t allowed even a minute to acknowledge myself.

The smoke settled again and I saw four more different monsters. In a panic, I looked back, beyond the door where Ariston and Seraphine were

But-

The moment I looked at them, Ariston moved.

I thought he was going to come in and help me, but he grabbed the heavy door and closed it with a blank face I couldn’t read at all, leaving me there to deal with the monsters alone.

!????

Author’s Bullshit

Guys, Can I please get more 5 star reviews on this book? The story still doesn’t have a ranking