the timid bride

**Chapter 33 – A Touch of Fire Beneath Her Fear**

The silence in the corridor was sharp. Not the comfortable kind of quiet, but the thick, suffocating kind that wrapped itself around Zara's throat like an invisible collar.

Her footsteps echoed as she walked behind Prince Kael, careful not to trail too close. His shoulders were tense beneath the sharp cuts of his royal robe, and though he said nothing, the air around him burned with restrained fury.

They hadn't spoken a word since the confrontation with Lady Mirelle in the gardens. Kael had dragged her away — not roughly, but with the kind of grip that said: *You belong to me, and I don't like being embarrassed.*

Zara felt it too. The sting of public humiliation, the judgmental eyes of the court, the weight of not knowing what Kael would do next. She'd tried to stay still, to remain small — like she always did when things went wrong.

But for the first time… she didn't want to stay silent.

She was tired of being afraid.

When they entered the prince's private chambers, Kael swung the heavy door shut behind them. It didn't slam, but the sound reverberated like thunder. Zara flinched.

He turned.

His eyes — cold, storm-gray — locked onto hers.

"You disobeyed me."

Zara blinked. Her throat dried instantly. "I… I didn't mean to—"

He took a step closer. Not threatening, but dominating the space between them like a mountain moving toward a trembling flame.

"You let that woman talk to you like that. You let her touch you."

"I couldn't stop her," she whispered.

"Yes, you could've." His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous. "You let her humiliate you in front of everyone, and by extension—me."

Zara's chest tightened. "I didn't ask to be your bride, Kael. I didn't ask for any of this."

The prince's jaw ticked. For a second, the control in his posture wavered. Then it returned — sharper than before.

He turned his back to her, walked toward the tall window, and stared out into the dusky courtyard.

"I know you didn't," he said quietly. "That's the problem."

Her eyes widened. It was the first time he'd admitted it — that she was forced into this marriage. That neither of them had chosen the other.

Still, something inside her curled with guilt.

"I'm trying…" she murmured. "But I'm not like the other girls you know. I wasn't raised in palaces. I don't know how to—fight back."

Kael turned to her again, slower this time.

"You don't need to fight," he said. "You just need to stop letting people step on you."

Zara's hands trembled at her sides. "Isn't that what you're doing?"

The silence that followed that question was brutal. Even the wind outside stilled.

Kael's expression didn't shift — not right away. But there was something behind his eyes now. Not anger. Not arrogance.

Pain.

He crossed the room in three long strides and stopped just in front of her. So close she could smell the faint scent of cedar and spice on his skin.

"I push," he said lowly, "because I want to see what you're made of. Because if you're going to stand beside me in this court full of liars and wolves, you can't be a lamb."

Zara's voice cracked. "Then maybe I don't belong here."

He reached for her. Slowly. Gently. As if even he didn't believe he could touch something without breaking it.

His fingers brushed her chin and tilted her gaze to his. His thumb hovered just under her lip.

"You belong here," he said, softer than she'd ever heard him. "But only if you want to."

Tears welled in her eyes. For the first time, they weren't just from fear or frustration. They were from confusion. From the weight of hearing the cold, cruel prince speak to her like she mattered.

"I don't know how to be brave," she admitted.

Kael's mouth curved into something that might've been a smile, or a grimace. It was hard to tell.

"You're standing up to me right now," he said. "That's a start."

Zara didn't know what possessed her next. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe the fury that had built quietly inside her for weeks. Or maybe it was the warmth of his hand beneath her chin that made her feel, for once, like she wasn't invisible.

She reached up and knocked his hand away.

"I'm not your project," she said. "You don't get to mold me into what you want just because it's convenient."

The moment shattered between them like glass.

Kael froze. His eyes flared — not with rage, but with surprise. Maybe even… respect.

Then he laughed. A low, dangerous sound that echoed off the stone walls.

"No," he said. "You're not my project. But you are mine."

Zara's heart jumped.

He stepped forward again, backing her toward the wall with the slow confidence of a man who knew he would win — but didn't want to crush her doing it.

Zara's breath hitched as her back hit the cool stone.

Kael leaned close, his lips near her ear. "The sooner you realize that doesn't mean chains—but protection—the easier this will be."

She looked up at him, her chest rising and falling rapidly. His nearness made her dizzy, but not in the way she hated. Not anymore.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered.

Kael's voice was a breath against her skin.

"Everything."

And then… he pulled away.

Just like that.

He turned from her again, walking back to his desk like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't just torn her emotional world in two.

"Your maid will bring you dinner," he said over his shoulder. "You won't be attending tomorrow's council. You need rest."

Zara stood still, her palms flat against the wall behind her, her heart thundering in her chest.

This man was a storm.

And somehow… she was learning to walk in the rain.