Chapter 2 - Blood on the Marble
The silence inside the Great Hall was absolute, thick with shock and disbelief.
Every lord, lady, knight, and councilman remained frozen. The shattered golden links lay strewn across the marble, glittering under the sudden flare of the re-lit chandeliers. The impossible had happened right before their eyes—a homeless, soot-covered boy had done in three seconds what the kingdom’s greatest warriors had failed to achieve in five years.
King Alden took a step down from the dais, his regal posture crumbling into confusion. "I asked you a question, boy," the King repeated, his voice echoing off the high stone vaults. "By whose authority do you enter this court, and who taught you to shatter royal magic?"
The young man did not flinch under the gaze of the crown. He wiped a streak of sweat and forge-soot from his brow with the back of his sleeve, leaving a smudge of crimson blood on his temple.
"My name is Kael," he said clearly. His tone lacked the polished subservience of a courtier, but it carried an unyielding steadiness. "I'm a blacksmith's apprentice from the Lower Dregs. No magic taught me this, Your Majesty. Just steel, fire, and knowing when metal is lying."
"Lying?" Queen Celeste hissed, taking a sharp step forward. Her mask of aristocratic poise had vanished, replaced by venomous fury. "You dare speak of sacred royal gold as a lie? You are an intruder! A filthy street rat practicing forbidden dark arts!"
She turned toward the High Guards lining the perimeter of the room. "Guards! Seize him! Put him in irons and take off his head for high treason!"
A dozen armored guards drew their broadswords in unison, the metallic shhh-ing ringing through the hall. They surged forward, their heavy iron boots clattering against the marble steps of the crystal platform.
"Stop!" Princess Aria cried out, stepping directly in front of Kael.
Her silver armor clanked loudly as she spread her arms, shielding him with her own body. For ten years she had been treated as a quiet, helpless ornament, but now her voice rang with authority that surprised even herself.
"The rules of the Fifth Trial were declared by the High Council and signed by my father!" Aria declared, looking directly into King Alden’s conflicted eyes. "Any man of Valoria, regardless of birth, had the right to attempt the locks. You promised on your crown that whoever freed me would be granted sanctuary and named my champion!"
"That rule was meant for men, Aria, not vagrants!" Queen Celeste snarled, her jeweled rings digging into her palm. "Look at him! He is dirty, unwashed, and clearly sent by our enemies to sabotage the royal succession! Guards, execute him where he stands!"
The lead knight grabbed Kael by the shoulder, shoving him back onto his knees. Kael did not fight back, but his dark eyes remained locked on Celeste, sharp and analytical.
As the knight raised his sword to strike Kael's neck, a strange light flickered on the floor.
The shattered fragments of the golden locks began to glow with a sickly, reddish-black pulse. A sharp pain suddenly flared through Princess Aria’s chest. She gasped, clutching her sternum, stumbling backward.
"Aria!" King Alden gasped, finally moving from his throne.
At the exact same moment, the guard's gauntleted hand struck Kael’s jaw. The moment the blow hit Kael, a purple bruise instantly bloomed across Princess Aria’s left cheekbone. She let out a sharp cry of pain, falling to her knees.
The room gasped.
"Wait!" Kael yelled, clutching his jaw while looking up at Aria in horror. "Don't touch me!"
The High Captain of the Guard paused, his blade hovering inches above Kael's head. "What dark trickery is this?"
"It's not a trick," Kael growled, his breathing heavy. He looked down at his own bleeding palm—the palm cut by the broken locks. "Those locks weren't a blessing. They were a blood-binding curse. Whoever broke them didn't just unlock her... the magical circuit snapped back onto the breaker."
Celeste’s face turned ghastly white for a split second before she quickly recovered her mask of anger.
Aria looked at Kael, her heart hammering against her ribs. She raised a hand to her aching cheek, feeling the soft swell of the bruise that belonged to his hit.
They were bound. If anyone executed Kael, Princess Aria would die with him.
King Alden reached the bottom of the platform, looking back and forth between his bruised daughter and the mud-covered boy. "Lower your swords," the King commanded, his voice trembling with newfound horror. "Lower them now!"
The guards slowly withdrew their weapons, stepping back in confusion.
Lady Marissa stepped up beside her mother, her pale blue dress rustling loudly in the quiet room. "Father, surely you won't allow this peasant to stay alive? He has bound our princess with dark hexes!"
"He didn't cast the hex, Marissa," Aria said softly, standing up slowly despite the pain in her ribs. She turned to glare at Queen Celeste. "He broke it. The question is... who put a blood-curse on the royal heir in the first place?"
Celeste's eyes narrowed into slit-like embers. "You dare accuse your court, girl? You are hysterical from years of isolation." She turned to the King. "Alden, we must throw this boy into the deep vaults until the court sorcerers can untangle this curse. For Aria's safety, he must be locked away."
King Alden looked deeply at Kael, then at his daughter. He couldn't risk Aria's life, but he was too weak-willed to challenge Celeste directly.
"Lock him in the lower dungeon," King Alden ordered quietly. "Feed him, tend to his wounds, but do not let him leave his cell. The High Sorcerer will examine them both tomorrow at dawn."
As two guards grabbed Kael’s arms—this time gently—Kael met Aria’s eyes one last time.
"Don't eat anything they bring you tonight, Princess," Kael whispered as he was dragged past her. "The metal in those chains... it wasn't made by gods. It was forged with poison."
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Before Aria could ask what he meant, Kael was led down the dark stone stairwell leading into the depths beneath the palace, leaving Aria standing alone among the shattered pieces of her ten-year prison.
Dưới đây là trọn bộ câu chuyện từ Chapter 3 đến Chapter 10 đầy đủ, tiếp nối trực tiếp diễn biến kịch tính của Chapter 1 và Chapter 2. Câu chuyện được viết theo phong cách tiểu thuyết giả tưởng (Fantasy Romance) giật gân, cuốn hút, chuẩn văn phong đọc serialized truyện tiếng Anh rất được độc giả Mỹ ưa chuộng!
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