Bloodbound to the Beastly King

The silence was unbearable.

Perhaps it was in her head or maybe her heart, because all around her, it was nothing like silence.

Adina stood by the balcony, watching the crowd that had gathered outside the gates, hailing and praising her father.

It's been a twenty four hours since the first fight. Adina wiped her dry cheek, expecting the same black tears but there was nothing.

She could tell something was missing, a great part of her was incomplete and yet..

And yet she couldn't name what it was.

"Long live the Dark Lord!" Their voices rose louder. "Long live Lord Khaos!"

The street was lined with soldiers dressed in black armor bearing Khaos' insignia. Homes that once displayed the silver crest of the Lycan King had been stripped bare, replaced by black banners that danced proudly in the wind.

Fear lingered behind every cheering face and Adina could see it.

She frowned, a part of her mind coming back. Their smiles didn't reach their eyes, they cheered because had had to, not because they wanted too.

Something about it made her chest tighten. "….They're afraid." She whispered.

"They're loyal." The deep voice behind her was calm.

Adina turned to see Khaos, he stood by the door, his black robes brushing against the floor as he walked inside. His red eyes drifted briefly toward the people outside before returning to her.

"Isn't there a difference?," Adina asked quietly.

He hummed, walking closer to her. His aura was cold, like an ice king from a frost village. He'd walk and people would shiver from cold.

"No." He walked until he stood beside her, overlooking the city below. "There isn't."

He folded his hands behind his back. "Fear creates obedience." His gaze remained fixed on the crowd. "Obedience creates order."

He looked at her, "And order creates peace."

"Your precious Thorne spent centuries trying to earn love. I earned something far more useful."

The crowd erupted into another chorus of praise.

Khaos lifted one hand slightly toward the balcony, and instantly, thousands dropped to one knee.

"Respect." He muttered, Adina watched the synchronized movement.

No…Not respect.

She could see mothers pulling children closer. Old men keeping their heads lowered.

Her stomach twisted. "They're frightened of you."

"They should be, the world has grown soft."He turned fully toward her. "Mercy is a disease and Compassion breeds weakness."

"Your mate infected this kingdom with both."

His words were gentle and calm, "I will cure it."

Adina frowned, something inside her wanted to disagree, wanted to argue.

But another voice whispered…

He's right.

The two thoughts collided painfully inside her head. She pressed a hand against her temple.

Khaos noticed immediately. His expression hardened for the briefest moment before softening once more.

"You are adjusting." He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"The remnants of your former life will fade."

Adina looked at him. "….Will they?"

"They must." He smiled. "You have a kingdom to inherit."

"Come." He said and begun to walk, Adina followed after

She walked carefully behind, watching as the beasts got on one knee the moment Khaos passed by, watching as they shivered from the cold his body enunciated.

As they descended the staircase, the palace swung open Outside, a line of prisoners knelt in the open.

Men, Women, Even a boy no older than sixteen. Their wrists were bound behind their backs.

Adina slowed. "What have they done?"

"They spoke against me," one of the guards answered proudly.

Another guard shoved one of the prisoners forward. "He encouraged people to resist your reign, my Lord."

The prisoner lifted his bruised face. "My Father is dead. Your beasts forcefully took him and—" A guard struck him across the mouth before he could finish.

"You see?" he said to Adina. "Defiance."

He stepped closer to the prisoner. "It begins with one voice." His gaze shifted across the kneeling line. "Then becomes ten."

"A hundred. A thousand. And like that, a kingdoms fall."

He tilted the prisoners head up to look at him, staring at him with those red eyes. He placed his palm against the prisoners forehead and opened his mouth.

The prisoner screamed, his skin drying and folding up like he was aging years in seconds. The rest of the prisoners screamed from terror, watching as he sucked the life essence out of the prisoner.

The man's body dropped to the floor like wood, his eyes dunked and dark, mouth open and squeezed. He was like an old dried up wood.

Khaos stepped back, his body glowed differently after this. With a flick of his finger, he tossed the dried up body to a pack of beasts, and in a second they pounced on the body, ripping it apart.

The remaining prisoners stared at the blood staining the stone beneath their knees, their bodies shaking uncontrollably.

Khaos regarded them with mild satisfaction.

"One voice," he said calmly, "has already become silence."

He turned toward Adina. "The kingdom is quieter."

Adina couldn't answer. Something inside her recoiled at the sight, yet another part of her remained… unmoved.

"Separate them."

The guards immediately obeyed. Half of the prisoners were dragged toward the western corridor. Others toward the eastern gate.

Adina's brows furrowed, "…Where are they taking them?"

"To somewhere they will be more useful." He said. Khaos began walking once more, forcing her to follow.

They stepped into a long corridor under the place. Torches burned with unnatural black flames, casting dancing shadows along the walls. The deeper they walked, the colder the air became.

Low cries echoed somewhere ahead. The sound of people who had long since exhausted their voices.

Adina slowed instinctively. "What is this place?"

"My future." He replied simply.

The corridor opened into a vast underground chamber. The smell hit her first. It was blood, an overwhelming amount of blood.

Rows upon rows of cages filled the chamber. Inside them were dozens of men. Adina's eyes widened seeing them all, some of them were barely alive, some cried as they saw her.

Khaos stepped in the middle of the room, hands spread apart, "Behold, the future of the realm."

Adina stared horrifically, a crack sounding in her heart.

"What—what are these?" She croaked out.

"The future of the realm. My army. The chosen ones." He stated proudly.

A beast lumbered past carrying a tray filled with surgical instruments stained with blood. Another dragged a body toward a stone table.

The man was alive, his wrists were chained above his head.

One of Khaos' dark healers stepped forward, bowing deeply. "My Lord. The harvest is prepared."

"Harvest?"

The healer smiled without warmth. "The strongest hearts. The healthiest lungs. The finest marrow. They make stronger vessels."

"They're people.." she whispered.

"No. They were people. Not anymore." He faced her, "To achieve the world we desire to live in. We must all be born anew."

The screams of the man grew louder as the blade slammed into him.

"A price we must all pay."

With that, he turned to leave. Adina hesitated for a second longer, her heart pounding harder than usual. She turned to leave only to pause, her eyes catching sight of a cage.

A woman sat in the cage, her baby, not more than seven months clutching her chest tight. She stared at the woman, an ache developing in her chest seeing the woman scramble back in fear, her baby wailing.

The ache in her chest grew more and she clutched her chest tight. Something—someone was missing.

Something rolled down Adina's cheek and when she touched it, she found that it was a tear.

She was crying but why?