Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 507: Chapter 507

The carriage wheels rattled over the uneven road leading back to the palace, each brutal jolt sending a fresh wave of nausea twisting through Nheera’s body. She sat rigidly beside Hairan, her back perfectly straight despite the agony threatening to consume her. Her hands rested tightly clasped in her lap, fingers trembling faintly no matter how hard she tried to still them.

The image of Azul’s ruined face refused to leave her mind. Every time she blinked, she saw him again. Blood everywhere. The soiled sheets. His throat torn open.

She kept her gaze fixed on the small carriage window, watching the blurred silhouettes of buildings slide past beneath the gray morning light without truly seeing any of them. The city moved around her as though nothing had happened, as though the world had not just ripped her son away from her.

Every breath felt painful, like tiny needles piercing deep into her lungs. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

It was the only thing keeping her together.

Because if she allowed even the smallest crack in her composure, she knew she would shatter completely right there inside the carriage. So she buried everything down as deeply as she could, locking away the screams clawing at her throat where no one could hear them.

Beside her, Hairan remained silent. He stared blankly through the opposite window, his expression distant, just as trapped within his own thoughts as she was. The usual sharp arrogance in his features was gone, replaced by something hollow and unsettled.

When the carriage finally rolled into the palace courtyard and came to a halt, Hairan stepped out first. He turned immediately and offered her his hand.

Nheera took it.

Her fingers were ice cold against his skin.

Together, they walked through the palace’s grand entrance. Servants lingered throughout the halls, bowing their heads the moment they caught sight of the queen and her son.

Nheera felt every single stare like shards of glass scraping against her skin, but she kept her chin lifted high as she walked, refusing to let anyone see the devastation threatening to swallow her whole.

Hairan subtly moved closer beside her, allowing her to lean some of her weight against him without making it obvious to the watching servants. She accepted the support without protest, letting him steady her while her face remained frozen into a carefully crafted mask.

Only when the heavy doors of her private chambers shut firmly behind them did that mask finally break.

The moment they were alone, raw, guttural sound ripped violently from her throat as she staggered forward, clutching desperately at her chest as though trying to hold herself together physically. Tears flooded her eyes instantly and spilled down her cheeks in burning, uncontrollable streams.

She whirled toward Hairan, her breathing ragged and broken.

"He is dead," she choked out, her voice splintering apart. "They killed him. They killed my son."

The words unleashed everything she had been holding back.

Her shoulders shook violently as sobs tore through her body with such force that she could barely remain standing. She pressed a trembling hand over her mouth, but it did nothing to silence the broken sounds escaping her. Grief ripped through her mercilessly, dragging up memory after memory of Azul.

Azul as a laughing child racing through palace gardens.

Azul sitting beside her during official meetings, clever beyond his years.

Azul standing tall before her as a grown man, ambitious, sharp-minded, and determined to claim greatness for himself.

He was alive only hours ago. But that was before they slaughtered him like an animal.

Hairan stepped toward her slowly. He placed both hands firmly on her shoulders, attempting to steady her trembling frame. The gesture should have felt comforting, reassuring even, but in that moment the touch felt strangely distant to Nheera, almost foreign, as though it belonged to a stranger rather than her own son.

She looked up at him through blurred vision. Her eyes were wide and frantic, the pupils blown wide with shock and rising fury.

"We cannot allow them to get away with this," she said hoarsely. "They will suffer for what they have done. I will make sure of it. They will pay for what they did to Azul."

Her voice cracked near the end, rising into something dangerously wild, something bordering on hysteria.

Hairan said nothing at first. He merely kept hold of her shoulders, his face tense with restrained emotion. Though he had never particularly cared for his brothers, the sight of Azul’s corpse had shaken him deeply. Even now, the gruesome image lingered vividly in his mind.

But his grief still paled in comparison to his mother’s.

Before this moment, he would never have believed Nheera capable of such emotions. She had always seemed cold, controlled, and endlessly calculating. Seeing her completely consumed by grief felt deeply unnatural, almost unsettling.

Nheera suddenly gripped his arms, her fingers digging harshly into the fabric of his sleeves.

"He is gone, Hairan," she sobbed. "My boy is gone."

Fresh cries tore from her throat as she bent forward until her forehead nearly rested against his chest. Whatever remained of her royal dignity had completely crumbled beneath the crushing weight of her sadness.

For several long moments, the room echoed only with the sound of her sobbing.

Then slowly, she lifted her head again.

Her face remained drenched in tears, but something else had hardened beneath the sorrow now. Something darker.

Hatred.

"Who do you think killed Azul?" Hairan finally asked quietly. They were the first words he had spoken since they had left Azul’s residence. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Nheera’s expression darkened instantly. The grief remained raw and bleeding within her eyes, but fury spread over it like gathering storm clouds.

"Who else but that wretched bastard?" she spat.

Hairan studied her carefully. "Why do you think Ragnar is responsible?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" she hissed. She pulled back slightly, though her hands remained locked tightly around his arms. "He knows how close we are to succeeding. He wanted to hurt us. He wanted to frighten us into retreating." Her lip curled bitterly. "But we will not let him win."

Her body still trembled violently beneath the force of her emotions. The hysteria had not left her eyes. If anything, it burned even brighter now, feeding hungrily upon the grief eating her up from within.

"I will make Ragnar and every single one of his supporters regret the day they ever crossed me," she vowed, her voice trembling with murderous fury. "I will strip everything from him. Everything he loves. Everything he holds dear. Her expression twAnd when I am finished, I will turn his entire world into ash."