Mountain of Bones: Prologue

Killing the king was never supposed to be this easy.

But the stars must have aligned in my favor tonight, because here I stood, my gaze locked with his one remaining eye burning with defiance as he clutched the wound in his side. The scent of iron and magic hung thick in the air, the castle’s ancient stones humming with forgotten power.

My madness had finally caught up to me.

I stepped closer, my boots silent against the bloodstained marble. The hatred in his stare was bright, but the ache in my chest was greater.

"I know they trained you never to answer me," I whispered, my voice raw. "But for once in your wretched life, forget your pride. Tell me what I need to know."

He laughed, a wet, broken sound. "You’ll kill me regardless."

"I’ll make it quick," I promised, the dagger trembling in my grip. "A kindness you and your ancestors never showed him."

His eye darkened at the mention of him. The one who had been stolen from the world, locked away where no light could reach. The man whose absence had carved a hollow in my soul for centuries. Even before I was born.

"Where is he?" I demanded, my voice breaking. "Tell me where they buried him. Where they chained him. Where I can finally...." My breath hitched. "Where I can finally see him."

The king’s lips curled into a smirk, blood staining his teeth like rust on a forgotten blade. "Fifty years I’ve ruled," he rasped, "and never once did I fear a girl like you." His single eye gleamed, mocking. "Kings? Warriors?"

I flinched.

He saw it. Laughed.

"You feel it, don’t you? That ache." His voice dropped, cruel. "Like something’s carved out your ribs and left you hollow. You think finding him will fix it?"

The dagger trembled in my grip.

I didn’t love the man they’d locked away. I’d never even seen his face. But the stories whispered in taverns, sung in mourning lullabies said he was mine. My mate. My ruin.

And the pain...

Gods, the pain.

It wasn’t longing. It wasn’t desire. It was a sickness, a wound that wouldn’t close, a scream trapped behind my teeth.

"Tell me where he is," I demanded, voice raw.

The king grinned. "You poor, mad thing. He’s worse than chains. Worse than death. You’ll wish you’d never found him." I drove the dagger into his heart. He dropped to his knees. "They named you true, didn’t they? Mawen. Stone-hearted. Stone-stupid" And then his laughter choked into silence.

But the ache?

It remained.

And I knew then- I was insane.

click here for Chapter 1