Eliora's eyes widened in confusion. "No. Why… why here? I was fine in the other room."
Zarek's eyes flashed red for a heartbeat.
"You belong with me. Not away from me. I can't ignore the bond anymore." He leaned closer, his voice ragged as he said, "I need you close or I won't survive this."
She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. "Eliora. You stay."
Then as quickly as it came, the softness vanished. His expression became cold again.
Without a word or even a glance back, he rose and walked out, like he hadn't been gentle with her minutes ago.
The door closed behind him with a click.
Zarek stepped into the corridor and nearly collided with Maelina and Aldric. The commander was still bleeding through the hastily wrapped bandages.
"Your Majesty." They bowed.
Aldric straightened and asked, "Is she okay?"
Zarek's eyes snapped to him, glowing faintly red. The growl that came from his chest was dark and territorial.
Maelina shot Aldric a look immediately. "Aldric, stop. He doesn't like your concern for her. The beast is still very close."
Aldric shut his mouth.
She turned to Zarek, "The council is requesting an audience with you."
Aldric exhaled and added, "They all....know now. Everyone saw what happened on the training grounds. They know she is human."
Zarek hissed, irritated to his bones, but he didn't speak. He turned and stalked down the hall with Maelina and Aldric behind him.
.
.
The council chamber roared with angry voices.
One elder snapped, "Who was the fool that suggested summoning the king right after he lost control? Do you want all of us dead?!"
Councilman Eirik lifted his chin stubbornly.
"We needed answers," he argued. "The kingdom needs..."
"Needs?" another barked. "People died today!"
Councilwoman Haleen slammed her fist on the table. "Many are wounded, soldiers, seers. Some won't recover for weeks!"
"And the destruction," someone else added. "Half the palace is gone!"
Murmurs of fear went on in the group.
Another councilwoman muttered, "The people are already whispering about the king's uncontrollable rage. If this spreads–"
Eirik cut in, tensed. "But we still need to confirm what everyone witnessed." He swallowed. "That… that the king's soulmate is human."
The room fell into uneasy silence. Then doors opened.
Zarek entered with Maelina and Aldric by his sides.
Every council member jolted to their feet and bowed deeply, their fear immediately swallowing any remaining argument. No one dared make a sound.
Zarek's steps echoed with authority as he approached the pavement. Then he sat on his throne silently watching them and waiting for the first fool brave enough to speak.
Eirik swallowed hard, realizing every eye had turned to him. He hadn't expected to be the first sacrificed.
Still, he stepped forward, voice trembling despite his effort to steady it. "Y...Your Majesty… we merely wish to confirm if the rumors spreading through the palace are true."
Zarek's gaze didn't move. He kept staring without uttering a word.
Aldric shifted as if ready to intervene if needed while Maelina closed her eyes briefly, silently praying for Eirik's survival.
Another council member cleared his throat shakily. "W...We mean no disrespect, My King. But… what was witnessed on the training grounds–"
"Was beyond anything we have ever seen," another added quickly. "Your Majesty tore through enchanted defenses. The seers...many collapsed. The soldiers..."
Zarek's jaw tightened and the councilman immediately shut up.
Eirik tried again, exhaling shakily. "Your Majesty, the matter of your soulmate…" He hesitated. "The girl, she is… human?"
The room held its breath.
Zarek leaned back slowly on the throne, his fingers curling over the armrest. His eyes, now gold, swept through their terrified faces.
Then he answered, "Yes."
Several council members flinched, but Eirik spoke again. "But My King, humans and beasts have never–"
Zarek cut him a warning glare and he went silent instantly.
A braver or more foolish elder stepped forward. "Your Majesty, her being human raises… complications. The nobles..."
"Will fall in line," Maelina responded.
The elder shut his mouth and the council buzzed with whispers until Eirik slammed his fist on the table.
"This is unacceptable!" he shouted. "A human cannot possibly be our queen!"
The room went dead silent. All eyes moved to Zarek. The king didn't move or speak.
He simply watched Eirik with a deadpan expression which somehow made the councilman even bolder.
Another councilman, old and bitter, nodded quickly. "I agree. It's madness. We would be the laughingstock of this realm."
"And what happens when she dies?" someone else asked nervously. "Humans are mortal. They are fragile....weak."
Eirik straightened, his confidence growing. "Exactly. How can such a creature rule us?"
Zarek's jaw flexed once, but he was still silent.
Eirik took it again as encouragement.
"Perhaps," he continued, lifting his chin, "this bond is a mistake. Fate has faltered."
A gasp echoed from the room. Everyone knew that questioning a fated bond was dangerous.
Maelina eyes flared in anger at the blatant insult. "There has never been a mistake in a fated bond," she snapped. "And I warned you all, the seventh bond would be different. Unprecedented and sacred."
Eirik scoffed. "Different? Sacred? It is nonsense. How could a human," he practically spat the word, "rule us? Cure the King? She could even break under the pressure of the winter season."
Councilwoman Haleen rose gracefully from her seat. "Yet the human girl was able to calm the king's beast today."
She turned, meeting each pair of eyes. "No one has ever done that. Not High Seer Maelina. Not Commander Aldric. Not the generals. Not even the pooled efforts of the royal seers."
A few council members murmured in reluctant agreement.
"It is true," someone said. "She soothed him quite easily."
But not everyone was convinced.
A potbellied man shook his head. "Perhaps the seventh bond was not meant for ruling," he suggested cautiously. "Perhaps it exists only to cure the king's curse… and to satisfy his emotional and... physical needs."
Another councilman leaned forward, eager to add fuel. "A wise arrangement could be made, perharps His Majesty takes a proper beast woman as queen, while keeping the human girl by his–"
Zarek lifted his hand slightly off the armrest and the councilman's body jerked lifted in the air by an invisible force that was clutching at his throat.
He kicked his feet helplessly, choking and gasping for breath. Not one person moved to help him. No one dared.
Zarek watched him struggle for a long, suffocating minute. Then the king's fingers dropped and the man fell to the ground unconscious.
The room became silent like a graveyard.
Zarek cold eyes swept the trembling council lazily. "Who else has something to say?" he asked.
Chairs scraped back as every council member bowed deeply.
Zarek rose from the throne at last. "You will remember this, I will make only my soulmate queen. No other."
He let that sink in, then he said, staring directly at Eirik, "Do not forget, the seer already declared the truth. I can only sire children through her."
Eirik's face went pale. Several council members swallowed hard, realizing what that meant.
Zarek stepped down from the throne, his presence suffocating the room. "That will be your last complaint or your last breath. And you will not summon me again....unless the kingdom is burning."
Then he turned and walked out, leaving the council shaking and very aware that the King's human soulmate was not just a passing tale, she was their future.