Kingdom of isolation - you can't hide

Prologue

Aurora

Life has never been fair to me. Escaping from the darkness is all I've ever known for as long as I can remember. I refused to let it engulf me, giving up was never an option I entertained even when things got tough. I ran even when it felt safe—because there is no such thing as being safe. Not in my world.

But I made a mistake. One tiny mistake is all it took to unravel years of hard work. I was back to square one, trapped inside this nightmare once again with no way out.

A picture perfect world, a land so hauntingly beautiful that I nearly believed it to be true. To the outside world this was perhaps akin to perfection. But it was hell on earth—my custom made hell. A living nightmare I desperately wanted to escape from but couldn't. He wouldn't let me.

I made a terrible mistake, I let my guard down when I shouldn't have. And that only led me into a trap, his trap. I was a pawn in this wicked game of chess, being used to unite two kingdoms. My life was controlled, confined within the ivory towers, a cruel destiny written before I was born. But I thought I was free at last.

"No matter which road you choose, it will always lead you back to me, princess."

I was a fool. He was my unwanted shadow, a darkness I couldn't shake off, catching me at every step of the way—leaving no room for escape.

How did this happen? I thought it was over the day I lost everything I loved. How could this be? I was alone and vulnerable once again, trying to survive with the pathetic hope I swore to never seek no matter how bad things got. I was a hypocrite, believing in something I knew didn't exist.

"Then I'll take a road that will lead me somewhere else entirely. Away from you, somewhere you can never find me even if you tried."

It was a game of cat and mouse, a predator and its prey. A game I had unwillingly and unknowingly become a part of.

"Do not entertain death as your ultimatum. I will find you, even in death."

Death would still be a better option than what he was offering. And I would rather die than accept his offer.

Alexander

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I own you.

The world is mine. She is mine.

Little princess might think she can escape me but what she doesn't know; nothing leaves unless I want it to. Nothing moves without asking for my permission first. I am your worst nightmare and everything unholy wrapped into one. There is no mercy or forgiveness for those who dare defy me. So what happens when she tries to fool me and gets away with it?

Death awaits others but for Aurora, I will scorch the earth until she's left with nothing but me. There is no hope, no safety, nothing that will keep me away from her. I have waited patiently—something I am incapable of. But not anymore. Aurora will become my queen, the way it was meant to be.

"You're a monster, I will never be yours."

Oh, but she was mine long before she knew it. She was made for me, my little miracle— my beautiful downfall. What started as an obsession soon turned into something much worse. Her destiny cannot be changed and she knows it. Aurora can hide all she wants but I'll find her again. And when I do, she'll never be able to leave.