🩸🩸THE ROSE COVENANT🩸🩸
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
CHAPTER 1
(Dark Romance)
The moment I opened my eyes, I already knew tonight would ruin something inside me.
The hall smelled like dying roses and danger. Candles flickered everywhere, making the whole room look like a confession someone should never hear. And me? I was lying on that ancient stone table in a silk-red dress that felt too soft for the kind of wickedness happening around me.
Six men stood over me like a curse someone spoke with their whole chest.
They weren’t strangers.
They were my guardians.
The Six Vows.
And I swear the air shifted when the one closest to my legs whispered,
“Seraphine… don’t look at any of them tonight. Just look at me.”
I laughed. Quiet, shaky, stubborn.
“Cassian, don’t start,” I muttered, pushing my hair out of my face.
“I’m the one being sacrificed...”
“It’s not a sacrifice,” another cut in sharply.
Dorian. Cold eyes. Cold voice. Cold everything except the way he looked at me like he'd burn the temple down if I blinked wrong.
“It’s a Binding,” he continued. “You awaken power. We guide it. No one dies.”
Cassian scoffed. “You’ve never seen her visions, Dorian. Someone always dies.”
Dorian stepped closer, jaw clenching. “Not her.”
And boom...fight number one for the night.
Typical.
I shifted uncomfortably, my dress sliding against the cold marble. The table was older than our kingdom; carved with symbols that glowed faintly every time my skin touched them. I didn’t need anyone to remind me what they meant: duty, bloodline, destiny, obedience.
Obedience.
That one always annoyed me.
Rylan, the quiet one, softly placed roses near my arm. “Just breathe, Sera. If you panic, the magic reacts.”
“Funny,” I snapped. “I’m more scared of the six of you than the magic.”
The room fell silent.
Kai cracked his knuckles. “Then maybe you should be.”
I turned my head sharply. “Wow. And here I thought you’d at least pretend to like me tonight.”
“Oh, I don’t pretend,” he said. “I want you alive. I just don’t think you understand what these powers will do to you.”
“Or what they’ll do to us,” whispered Rylan.
The tension was so thick I swear I could taste it.
Then Lucien, the oldest, stepped closer like he owned the air itself. His voice was soft, too soft.
“Seraphine. Look at me.”
I didn’t want to.
But I did.
“You trust me, don’t you?” he asked.
“No,” I said immediately.
He smiled. “Good girl.”
My stomach twisted.
Not because I liked it...
But because I hated that it affected me.
Lucien placed an herb on my stomach, his fingertips brushing my skin deliberately slow. Cassian hissed immediately.
“Bro, what was that?” he snapped.
“Why are you touching her like that?”
Lucien didn’t even blink. “I’m performing the ritual.”
“You’re flirting.”
“And you’re loud,” Lucien replied.
Cassian stepped forward, but Dorian blocked him with one arm.
“No one fights tonight,” Dorian growled. “We’re here for one thing.”
“And if she gets hurt?” Cassian shot back. “If she screams again like last time? If she...”
My voice cracked. “Stop arguing over me. I’m literally right here.”
They all turned.
Strong men.
Hard eyes.
Sworn protectors.
Yet I’d never felt more like prey in my life.
Lucien leaned down beside my ear. His breath ghosted my skin.
“Seraphine… the ritual begins when you stop pretending you aren’t terrified.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not pretending.”
He smirked.
“Good. Then you’re finally honest.”
He nodded at the others, and they formed a circle around the table. The sunset seeped through the cracked windows, hitting my body like a spotlight. For a moment, none of them moved. They just looked at me.
Too long.
Too intensely.
Too possessively.
“Why are you staring?” I snapped.
Kai answered first.
“Because this is the last time you’ll be… just you.”
Dorian’s voice followed, low and dangerous.
“After tonight, everything changes.”
Rylan whispered, “After tonight, you belong to the magic.”
Cassian snarled, “She belongs to nobody.”
“Cassian,” Lucien warned, “don’t start.”
But Cassian didn’t care. He grabbed my hand suddenly, holding it to his chest.
“I don’t care what the prophecy says,” he breathed. “I don’t care what destiny wants. Sera, you hear me? If anything goes wrong. ..I’m stopping the ritual.”
Lucien stepped forward. “You will not.”
Cassian pushed him back. “Touch her again like that and see what happens.”
“Both of you shut up,” Dorian snapped. “We’re not doing this.”
I groaned loudly. “I swear, being kidnapped by actual demons would be less stressful than you six.”
Lucien smirked.
Cassian tensed.
Kai looked offended on behalf of demons.
And then… the table woke up.
A ripple of light crawled along the carvings beneath me, humming like a warning. Every symbol flared gold. The air grew hotter, thicker, uncomfortably intimate.
Rylan breathed, “It’s starting. Lucien, the herbs.”
Lucien placed the ritual herbs along my legs and stomach, his touch deliberate but professional...until Cassian slapped his hand away.
“Bro. Go slower.”
“Cassian.”
Lucien’s voice was pure ice.
“It has to be placed quickly. Unless you want her to burn internally.”
Cassian froze.
I didn’t.
“Wait..WHAT?” I yelped.
Kai sighed dramatically. “Relax. Only your blood heats. Not your organs.”
“Oh. Nice. Very comforting. Thank you,” I deadpanned.
The glow intensified, and the carvings began to pulse. My chest tightened as heat rushed up my spine.
My heartbeat echoed like a drum.
Something inside me snapped, unlocking like a door that had been waiting centuries. I gasped, arching involuntarily as light surged through my veins.
Rylan grabbed my wrist. “Sera...stay with me.”
Dorian pressed his palm to my ankle, grounding me. “Breathe. I’m right here.”
Lucien placed his hand on my stomach. “Let it in, Seraphine.”
And Cassian..
Cassian grabbed my face gently, eyes burning.
“Look at me. Not them. Just me. Stay with me.”
But the visions came.
Thick, violent waves of futures I didn’t want to see
A kingdom burning.
A crown collapsing.
Me? Standing in the center of it like a curse wearing skin.
And then..
A hand around my throat.
A whisper in my ear.
One of them beside me.
But I couldn’t see which one.
I jerked violently. “Stop....stop....make it stop!”
The glow exploded.
The table shook.
Candles blew out.
The guardians staggered.
And then everything went dead silent.
My breath was ragged. My hands trembled. Something hot streamed down my nose.
“Is that blood?” Rylan whispered.
Kai cursed. “She pushed too hard.”
Lucien stepped close, wiping the blood from my lip with his thumb. His voice was low.
“What did you see?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying,” Dorian said immediately. “Your heartbeat jumped. Your eyes dilated. What did you see, Seraphine?”
Cassian held me tighter. “She said nothing. Back off.”
“Cassian...” Lucien warned.
“No.” Cassian pulled me upright, shielding me. “You people want control. I want her alive.”
Dorian scoffed. “Alive is useless if she’s unbound.”
Kai stepped forward, smirking darkly. “Maybe she doesn’t trust any of you. Maybe that’s the problem.”
Lucien lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Seraphine. Tell us what you saw.”
I jerked away. “I said nothing.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then why are you shaking?”
I didn’t want to answer.
Couldn’t.
Because the truth was suffocating:
In every future I saw
...every single one...
someone I loved died.
And one of these men was the cause.
Kai watched me too closely. “Someone dies, right?”
I froze.
Cassian tensed. “Don’t scare her...”
“She’s already scared,” Kai cut in.
Rylan whispered, “Tell us. Whose death did you see?”
My throat tightened.
Lucien stepped forward again, voice low, almost tender.
“Seraphine… tell us who kills you.”
The whole room inhaled sharply.
“Wait.” Cassian grabbed me. “Kills her? That’s not what the prophecy says”
Dorian corrected him quietly.
“No… that’s exactly what it says. ‘By her death the power awakens.’”
Silence.
The kind you feel in your bones.
Cassian’s voice broke. “No. No, absolutely not...Sera is not dying.”
Kai looked away. “Prophecies don’t care about your feelings.”
Rylan whispered, “Maybe there’s a way around it.”
Lucien stared at me like he already knew the truth.
“Seraphine. Tell us the vision.”
I closed my eyes.
Then I whispered the words I knew would destroy everything:
“I saw one of you standing over my body.”
The room erupted.
Cassian: “WHO?!”
Dorian: “Tell us.”
Kai: “Say it.”
Lucien leaned in slowly, dangerously calm.
“Which one of us kills you, Seraphine?”
My voice cracked.
“I… I didn’t see the face.”
But I saw the hand.
And the hand had a ring.
A ring only one of them wore.
Lucien’s ring.
He stared at me, unblinking.
Expression unreadable.
Voice soft enough to freeze my soul.
“Then, little rose,” he murmured, “I suppose the real question is…
Will you let me kill you if it saves the kingdom?”
My heart stopped.
Literally stopped.
And the glow returned, stronger than before.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
CHAPTER 1
(Dark Romance)
The moment I opened my eyes, I already knew tonight would ruin something inside me.
The hall smelled like dying roses and danger. Candles flickered everywhere, making the whole room look like a confession someone should never hear. And me? I was lying on that ancient stone table in a silk-red dress that felt too soft for the kind of wickedness happening around me.
Six men stood over me like a curse someone spoke with their whole chest.
They weren’t strangers.
They were my guardians.
The Six Vows.
And I swear the air shifted when the one closest to my legs whispered,
“Seraphine… don’t look at any of them tonight. Just look at me.”
I laughed. Quiet, shaky, stubborn.
“Cassian, don’t start,” I muttered, pushing my hair out of my face.
“I’m the one being sacrificed...”
“It’s not a sacrifice,” another cut in sharply.
Dorian. Cold eyes. Cold voice. Cold everything except the way he looked at me like he'd burn the temple down if I blinked wrong.
“It’s a Binding,” he continued. “You awaken power. We guide it. No one dies.”
Cassian scoffed. “You’ve never seen her visions, Dorian. Someone always dies.”
Dorian stepped closer, jaw clenching. “Not her.”
And boom...fight number one for the night.
Typical.
I shifted uncomfortably, my dress sliding against the cold marble. The table was older than our kingdom; carved with symbols that glowed faintly every time my skin touched them. I didn’t need anyone to remind me what they meant: duty, bloodline, destiny, obedience.
Obedience.
That one always annoyed me.
Rylan, the quiet one, softly placed roses near my arm. “Just breathe, Sera. If you panic, the magic reacts.”
“Funny,” I snapped. “I’m more scared of the six of you than the magic.”
The room fell silent.
Kai cracked his knuckles. “Then maybe you should be.”
I turned my head sharply. “Wow. And here I thought you’d at least pretend to like me tonight.”
“Oh, I don’t pretend,” he said. “I want you alive. I just don’t think you understand what these powers will do to you.”
“Or what they’ll do to us,” whispered Rylan.
The tension was so thick I swear I could taste it.
Then Lucien, the oldest, stepped closer like he owned the air itself. His voice was soft, too soft.
“Seraphine. Look at me.”
I didn’t want to.
But I did.
“You trust me, don’t you?” he asked.
“No,” I said immediately.
He smiled. “Good girl.”
My stomach twisted.
Not because I liked it...
But because I hated that it affected me.
Lucien placed an herb on my stomach, his fingertips brushing my skin deliberately slow. Cassian hissed immediately.
“Bro, what was that?” he snapped.
“Why are you touching her like that?”
Lucien didn’t even blink. “I’m performing the ritual.”
“You’re flirting.”
“And you’re loud,” Lucien replied.
Cassian stepped forward, but Dorian blocked him with one arm.
“No one fights tonight,” Dorian growled. “We’re here for one thing.”
“And if she gets hurt?” Cassian shot back. “If she screams again like last time? If she...”
My voice cracked. “Stop arguing over me. I’m literally right here.”
They all turned.
Strong men.
Hard eyes.
Sworn protectors.
Yet I’d never felt more like prey in my life.
Lucien leaned down beside my ear. His breath ghosted my skin.
“Seraphine… the ritual begins when you stop pretending you aren’t terrified.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not pretending.”
He smirked.
“Good. Then you’re finally honest.”
He nodded at the others, and they formed a circle around the table. The sunset seeped through the cracked windows, hitting my body like a spotlight. For a moment, none of them moved. They just looked at me.
Too long.
Too intensely.
Too possessively.
“Why are you staring?” I snapped.
Kai answered first.
“Because this is the last time you’ll be… just you.”
Dorian’s voice followed, low and dangerous.
“After tonight, everything changes.”
Rylan whispered, “After tonight, you belong to the magic.”
Cassian snarled, “She belongs to nobody.”
“Cassian,” Lucien warned, “don’t start.”
But Cassian didn’t care. He grabbed my hand suddenly, holding it to his chest.
“I don’t care what the prophecy says,” he breathed. “I don’t care what destiny wants. Sera, you hear me? If anything goes wrong. ..I’m stopping the ritual.”
Lucien stepped forward. “You will not.”
Cassian pushed him back. “Touch her again like that and see what happens.”
“Both of you shut up,” Dorian snapped. “We’re not doing this.”
I groaned loudly. “I swear, being kidnapped by actual demons would be less stressful than you six.”
Lucien smirked.
Cassian tensed.
Kai looked offended on behalf of demons.
And then… the table woke up.
A ripple of light crawled along the carvings beneath me, humming like a warning. Every symbol flared gold. The air grew hotter, thicker, uncomfortably intimate.
Rylan breathed, “It’s starting. Lucien, the herbs.”
Lucien placed the ritual herbs along my legs and stomach, his touch deliberate but professional...until Cassian slapped his hand away.
“Bro. Go slower.”
“Cassian.”
Lucien’s voice was pure ice.
“It has to be placed quickly. Unless you want her to burn internally.”
Cassian froze.
I didn’t.
“Wait..WHAT?” I yelped.
Kai sighed dramatically. “Relax. Only your blood heats. Not your organs.”
“Oh. Nice. Very comforting. Thank you,” I deadpanned.
The glow intensified, and the carvings began to pulse. My chest tightened as heat rushed up my spine.
My heartbeat echoed like a drum.
Something inside me snapped, unlocking like a door that had been waiting centuries. I gasped, arching involuntarily as light surged through my veins.
Rylan grabbed my wrist. “Sera...stay with me.”
Dorian pressed his palm to my ankle, grounding me. “Breathe. I’m right here.”
Lucien placed his hand on my stomach. “Let it in, Seraphine.”
And Cassian..
Cassian grabbed my face gently, eyes burning.
“Look at me. Not them. Just me. Stay with me.”
But the visions came.
Thick, violent waves of futures I didn’t want to see
A kingdom burning.
A crown collapsing.
Me? Standing in the center of it like a curse wearing skin.
And then..
A hand around my throat.
A whisper in my ear.
One of them beside me.
But I couldn’t see which one.
I jerked violently. “Stop....stop....make it stop!”
The glow exploded.
The table shook.
Candles blew out.
The guardians staggered.
And then everything went dead silent.
My breath was ragged. My hands trembled. Something hot streamed down my nose.
“Is that blood?” Rylan whispered.
Kai cursed. “She pushed too hard.”
Lucien stepped close, wiping the blood from my lip with his thumb. His voice was low.
“What did you see?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying,” Dorian said immediately. “Your heartbeat jumped. Your eyes dilated. What did you see, Seraphine?”
Cassian held me tighter. “She said nothing. Back off.”
“Cassian...” Lucien warned.
“No.” Cassian pulled me upright, shielding me. “You people want control. I want her alive.”
Dorian scoffed. “Alive is useless if she’s unbound.”
Kai stepped forward, smirking darkly. “Maybe she doesn’t trust any of you. Maybe that’s the problem.”
Lucien lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Seraphine. Tell us what you saw.”
I jerked away. “I said nothing.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then why are you shaking?”
I didn’t want to answer.
Couldn’t.
Because the truth was suffocating:
In every future I saw
...every single one...
someone I loved died.
And one of these men was the cause.
Kai watched me too closely. “Someone dies, right?”
I froze.
Cassian tensed. “Don’t scare her...”
“She’s already scared,” Kai cut in.
Rylan whispered, “Tell us. Whose death did you see?”
My throat tightened.
Lucien stepped forward again, voice low, almost tender.
“Seraphine… tell us who kills you.”
The whole room inhaled sharply.
“Wait.” Cassian grabbed me. “Kills her? That’s not what the prophecy says”
Dorian corrected him quietly.
“No… that’s exactly what it says. ‘By her death the power awakens.’”
Silence.
The kind you feel in your bones.
Cassian’s voice broke. “No. No, absolutely not...Sera is not dying.”
Kai looked away. “Prophecies don’t care about your feelings.”
Rylan whispered, “Maybe there’s a way around it.”
Lucien stared at me like he already knew the truth.
“Seraphine. Tell us the vision.”
I closed my eyes.
Then I whispered the words I knew would destroy everything:
“I saw one of you standing over my body.”
The room erupted.
Cassian: “WHO?!”
Dorian: “Tell us.”
Kai: “Say it.”
Lucien leaned in slowly, dangerously calm.
“Which one of us kills you, Seraphine?”
My voice cracked.
“I… I didn’t see the face.”
But I saw the hand.
And the hand had a ring.
A ring only one of them wore.
Lucien’s ring.
He stared at me, unblinking.
Expression unreadable.
Voice soft enough to freeze my soul.
“Then, little rose,” he murmured, “I suppose the real question is…
Will you let me kill you if it saves the kingdom?”
My heart stopped.
Literally stopped.
And the glow returned, stronger than before.
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