POV: Francesca
For a few precious seconds after I woke up, I didn’t remember where I was or why my body felt heavy and sore. Fur brushed my bare skin, soft and thick, layered with cloaks that smelled faintly of smoke and storm. The air was still, the cave quiet except for slow, even breathing beside me.
Wilhelm. I turned my head carefully.
He lay on his side facing me, one arm draped loosely around my waist as if he had claimed the space in his sleep without realizing it. His dark hair spilled across the furs, his face unguarded for the first time since I had met him.
He looked… peaceful. Younger, almost. As if ten years of rage had loosened their grip while he slept.
My chest tightened. Last night rushed back to me in fragments—his bite, the light, the bond, the way his voice had softened when he said my name.
I lifted a hand instinctively to my neck. The mark was still there, warm beneath my fingers, pulsing faintly like a secret heartbeat.
Carefully, I eased myself out of his hold. I didn’t want to wake him. I didn’t know why—perhaps because if he opened his eyes, everything would feel too real, too impossible to face in the light of morning.
The moment my feet touched the cold stone floor, pain exploded through my abdomen.
I gasped, folding forward with a cry as something sharp and deep bloomed inside me, unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was burning, twisting, alive.
I stared in horror as light pulsed from my stomach, bright enough to illuminate the cave floor. My hands flew to my abdomen as my knees buckled, and I collapsed to the stone, breath coming in ragged sobs.
“Oh God…” I whispered, panic choking me. “What have I done? What’s going to happen to me?”
The glow throbbed once more, then dimmed, leaving behind a deep, aching pressure that made my head spin. I pressed my forehead to the cold stone, fighting the urge to scream.
I forced myself to stand, shaking, gathering the scattered remains of my ruined dress and cloak. Every movement sent fresh pain through my body, but fear drove me forward harder than any wound.
“This pain is unbearable,” I muttered through clenched teeth. “I have to do something about it.”
I fled the cave. Cold morning air hit me like a blade as I stumbled into the forest clearing. The storm had passed, leaving behind a gray, heavy sky and wet earth that sucked at my feet. I took two desperate steps forward—and froze.
Horses. Armored riders blocked the path ahead, their dark cloaks damp with mist, their expressions hard and alert. At their center sat a familiar figure astride a black stallion, posture relaxed, as if he had all the time in the world.
King Cassian. My heart plummeted.
He swung down from his horse with deliberate slowness, boots crunching against gravel as he approached me. His guards fanned out behind him, silent and watchful, hands resting on sword hilts.
Cassian’s gaze swept over me, lingering on my bare feet, my tangled hair, the ruined gown barely clinging to my body. His lips curved into a smile that made my skin crawl.
“I hate it when my property runs away,” he said mildly.
I straightened despite the pain, lifting my chin even as my hands trembled. “I’m not your property,” my voice was hoarse but steady.
The smile vanished. Cassian raised the hand bearing his heavy signet ring and struck me across the face.
The blow sent my head snapping to the side. Pain exploded across my cheek, hot and sharp, and I tasted blood instantly. Tears stung my eyes despite my effort to hold them back.
I pressed a shaking hand to my face, feeling warm wetness smear across my fingers. A thin line of blood slid down my skin.
Cassian leaned closer, his voice dropping to a soft, intimate murmur that made my stomach churn. “You’re mistaken,” he said. “And I can’t wait to prove it to you.”
His gaze dropped to my neck. I saw the moment his expression changed—surprise sharpening into something far darker. His eyes fixed on the mark Wilhelm had left, still vivid against my skin.
“The mark of Luna,” he hissed. “The one who bears a royal child.”
My blood turned to ice. Cassian’s grip tightened painfully. “You will give birth to it for me,” he said, his voice trembling with fury and possessive delight. “Whoever put this on you, this child belongs to the king!”
One of the servants dropped to a knee before Cassian, breathless. “Your Majesty—the prisoner in the cave has escaped.”
The king went still. Slowly, he released my chin and straightened. The air around him felt charged, dangerous. His jaw clenched, and his eyes burned with a rage that made the guards shift uneasily.
His gaze snapped back to me, filled with cold certainty. “Tie her up.”
Rough rope bit into my wrists as they bound them tightly, wrenching my arms back. I cried out as pain shot through my shoulders, the ache in my abdomen flaring again.
Cassian mounted his horse without another word. “Search the forest,” he ordered. “I want him found.”
They searched for hours.
I was dragged along behind them, stumbling and half-carried through the woods, my strength bleeding away with every step. They found nothing. No trace of Wilhelm beyond the empty cave.
By the time the palace gates loomed ahead, my body was numb with exhaustion and dread. The moment we arrived, Cassian did not hesitate.
“Take the new slave girl to my chambers,” he commanded.
I struggled then, terror finally breaking loose, but it was useless. The guards hauled me through familiar corridors, past tapestries and stone walls that felt like the ribs of a beast swallowing me whole.
The doors closed behind us. What followed ruined me inside out.
Cassian took what he wanted with cruel indifference, his voice cold and mocking as he told me he knew I was pregnant, that he knew who the father was. He moved inside me and said it didn’t matter. The royal child will belong to him.
I lay beneath him, enduring the pain, the humiliation, the horror, my tears soaking into silk sheets that smelled of power and rot. I stared at the ceiling and tried to leave my body, to go anywhere else.
My throat burned as I whispered the only name that felt real anymore. “My Prince…” My voice broke completely. “Where are you?”