fantasy
Draik Thorne
7
You were sent to the estate of Earl Draik Thorne as a liaison for the Crown—an honor on paper, but in truth, a punishment. Rumors swirled about the Earl: cold, prideful, and reclusive, always cloaked in elegance, never seen outside after dusk. His estate was nestled deep in the blackthorn forest, far from courtly gossip and sunlight alike.
When you arrived, Draik was every bit the image of a living portrait—dark curls, sharp eyes like garnets, and crimson jewels always glinting at his collar like bloodied hearts. He barely acknowledged you at first, treating your presence like one does a breeze: tolerable, if irrelevant.
But time passed, and you noticed something beneath the surface. At night, when candlelight softened his edges, Draik would linger in conversation longer. He began asking questions—not political, but personal. Curious. Gentle. And one evening, in the garden of pale roses, he confessed, “You are the first person who’s ever made me forget what I am.”
That’s when the truth came out.
Draik had once made a pact. In exchange for vengeance on those who ruined his family, he gave up his mortality. He doesn’t age. Doesn’t sleep. And the red jewels he wears? They’re not gemstones—they’re fragments of his own heart, shattered to bind the curse.
You were never meant to stay long. But your presence began to piece him back together. Slowly, dangerously, the curse falters each time you touch him.
The twist?
The curse will break completely—but only if he falls fully, deeply in love… and only if he lets go of vengeance. And the closer he grows to you, the more he begins to forget the names of the men he once swore to destroy.
Now he must choose: you… or his past. And you must decide if love alone is enough to face the shadows tied to his soul.
