HELLO HELLO! CHAPPIE HAS ARRIVED!

So sorry for the wait, I was cruising through my week and forgot today was Tuesday...

Technically it's only 11:25 pm where I live so like my college assignments I'm submitting this at 11:59 pm on the dot lol. Anyway, I was looking at the views per chapter and chappie 7 has so many reads and comments lol you guys really like Brandon Silver fufu. I read every single one of your reviews and it makes me so so happy to see the excitement, it actually makes writing so worth while! I also fantasize about my favourite books when they dont update so please feel free to drop your ideas down, I would love to use them (with creds ofc hehe) if I do draw blanks!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT WITH THIS ONE I WON'T LET YOU DOWN! 〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜

Anyways **TW** BLOOD!

Mornings at the Sun Palace were always glorious. The first sun sat at its most eastern point, with the second sun rising just beside it. Former Princess Stella of Solaria sat on the bay window in the east wing guest room, having tried the balcony doors for some fresh air and finding them to be sealed shut. Her body didn't ache as much and the wound on her shoulder was healing well, the only thing that stung was the black ink pattern on her forearm.

She tried not to gaze upon it, the sheer look of it made her want to scream in frustration. The Silver Emblem, void of its former regal appearance since the Drakari took over had donned an ominous black colour as it etched on her skin. Whatever Brandon had ordered Tecna to do last night had left a permanent reminder and branding of him on her body that she felt repulsed just at the thought of it.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, Stella laid her head on her knees and stared out the window forlornly at the garden in the palace courtyard. She lived every day in this very castle, filling it with laughter, and sometimes even tears. To think it was now just a war base for the man she used to love.

She longed to go outside, bask in the warm sun and take a walk in the royal garden once more. She didn't realise how much she had missed her home. But she was inevitably a prisoner here and just having a bed to sleep on was accommodation enough considering the cold nature of the man holding her captive.

The faint sound of the door leading into the hallway unlocked but she continued to stare at her own reflection in the window. "I said I'm not hungry," She murmured, not even sparing who was at the threshold a glance.

All morning servants had been knocking at her door, offering her breakfast and other assortments. She had refused them as politely as she could, but it was obvious they wanted her to eat something.

She was not in the mood to eat, hell even starving to death would be better than whatever torment the Drakari had in store for her.

"I can tell, you haven't touched anything," Brandon's deep voice sounded from beside her and Stella whipped her head, immediately raising her guard.

He stood a couple of feet away from her, eyes trained on the plethora of plates that lined the dresser by the door. His usually cold brown eyes flickered up to meet hers and Stella glared back. "Stop sending them," She hissed, "I'd rather die than eat anything the Drakari serves,"

He shrugged, uncaring and emotionless when he spoke, "I don't send them," He shot back, "The staff insist on keeping you fed,"

She continued to leer at him, not even fazed at learning he didn't have a shred of compassion, "Well tell them to stop,"

A cold scoff escaped his lips as he stepped deeper into the room. Stella shuffled back on the bay window, trying to put as much distance between them as she could. His body towered over hers and she couldn't force her eyes away from the choice of clothes he had traded commander uniform for.

A pair of black tactical pants with a skin-tight compression shirt underneath over a collared black jacket. He wasn't wearing his sword sheath or the cape, it seemed he was just in training gear.

His eyes were swirling with sinister amusement as he spoke mockingly, "You will eat, princess, you are too prideful to die of starvation,"

She didn't look away from him, holding his voided gaze with her own challenging glare, "If you get this close to me again, I won't hesitate to kill you,"

He smirked, accepting her challenge, "Try me, princess,"

Gritting her teeth, she put all her force into swinging her fist, sending it hurling at his face. Brandon didn't flinch, he continued to smile smugly at her until milliseconds before her fist connected to his cheek, he pulled his head back.

He was incredibly fast.

Stella's eyes widened as his other hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the bay. One moment she was sitting on the cushion of the bay window, the next minute she was backed up against him with her wrist twisted behind her back. A smaller dagger she failed to detect on him had been drawn and pressed against her neck from the front as he held her against him.

"I told you, you are weak princess," His breath was warm in her ear in contrast to his cold gloves gripping her bare skin. The blade pressed with a bit more pressure at her jugular vein, letting her know with one nick he could've ended her life. "With the way you are now, you can't even hope to land a scratch on me, much less kill me,"

He wasn't wrong. Brandon moved like a seasoned war machine and at a speed she could barely even comprehend much less land an attack on. He had trained most of his life to be High Commander, killing him was going to be the hardest thing she'd have to do.

He withdrew his blade back into its hilt and stepped away from her. Stella let out a raspy breath she didn't even know she held as she ran her fingers across her neck. There wasn't a drop of blood drawn but he very well could've filled her throat with her own.

She turned her vicious glare at him. "I hate you!" She snapped.

He continued to stand there, unfazed and partly amused at the loathing that burned in her gaze. He wasn't aware the dainty princess he remembered could hold so much emotion in her gaze. It was…riveting, "I'm aware,"

He stepped forward, tilting his head to direct his gaze to the gruesome branding on her arm, "I see your body accepted it,"

Gritting her teeth, Stella straightened up and turned her forearm towards him, "What the hell did you do to me?!"

Brandon's voided eyes trailed from the dark emblem on her forearm to her face, "It's an implant inside your arm,"

Her eyes widened, "What?"

"It's a dark magic imbued item that allows remote control over the magic ability of the body it's inside of," He stated simply, and Stella stared eyes wide at the emblem. Dark magic, what kind of insanity was that? "In other words, I control when you transform,"

There was no way such an item even existed. The ability to control someone else's magic was something she had never even come across when learning about magic. To think he didn't have a care in the world planting it in her with an incredibly high chance she could die from it, "I could've died," She hissed.

His expression lacked any care and his tone reflected it, "But you didn't," He pointed out, "Your life isn't what's important, princess, it's the sceptre you have. If there was a way to extract it without you being alive, believe me, I would've chosen it,"

Brandon Silver stood there nonchalantly as if his words didn't send a vicious arrow piercing right through her chest. He didn't care if she died, he only cared about the power his father would attain whether she was alive or not.

He would have no problem killing her if not for the sceptre.

Stella stared disgustedly at the man before her. The man she had been secretly in love with for years, the man she couldn't believe would betray her to the point she hesitated every time she had a chance to kill him—the man she wanted to marry when she eventually became queen.

She had her answer from 4 years ago.

He never loved her back. He was incapable of it.

"You're a monster," She breathed, trying to cover the hurt his words dealt her.

He didn't even flinch at the venom with which she delivered her words, "Again, princess – I'm aware,"

The moment the doors to Tecna's lab hissed open, Stella stormed in. Tecna sat at her desk, lab glasses covering her emerald gaze as she gazed up curiously, "You're up earlier than I thought, Your Highness," She hummed thoughtfully.

Stella didn't say anything, as she stood in the middle of the room. High Commander Brandon Silver's ominously heavy footsteps sounded behind her as he walked into the lab with his usually cold glare. "Ready the arena, Tecna," He commanded, continuing to stride to the inner doors that led into the training rink.

Continuing to hold her glare, Stella watched Brandon stop by the door and shrug off his jacket, dropping it over one of Tecna's tables. The compression shirt was cinched around every curve of muscle he had and cut off at the sleeves, putting his sculpted arms on display.

Standing there in his pants and tight shirt, he turned to face her. There was something sinister about the way he stared her down, "You wanted to kill me, princess, here's your chance," He murmured, referring to the arena.

Tecna let out an exasperated sigh from beside her, "I haven't even run any tests on the implant, you can't just take it for a test drive like that!"

Brandon ignored her, his attention unwaveringly on the former princess, "In fact, I'll even out the odds," He smirked, before yanking the blade out of his hidden pocket and slamming it down on the table beside his jacket, "Take the blade, princess,"

She knew what he was doing. He was going to engage in combat with her in an attempt to draw the sceptre out. From what she gathered, the implant let Brandon control Stella's magic, both nullifying and enabling it to his will.

It limited her from using her energy blades but also allowed her to unleash her transformation whenever he so pleased.

Tecna glared at him, voicing her protests, "Commander, at least let me-"but Stella cut her off.

"And you?" She asked emotionlessly. Brandon's smug smile widened.

"Unarmed," He replied simply.

Tecna let out a groan as the former princess stalked over to her former high commander and snatched the blade off the table. She was used to duelling with two, but one will have to do for now.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Tecna murmured to herself in irritation before storming over to the glowing control system closest to the glass window overlooking the arena. Rubbing the bridge of her nose she stabbed a button on the panel and a high-powered whirring sound echoed through the levelled arena.

Stella watched as the white-walled arena slowly began materialising into a combat ring. Four cornered posts with rope hemming in a hard floor sat in the middle of the room and she stared at it in awe.

"How did-" She whispered in confusion.

"It's an advanced type of hologram that you can see and feel, a perfect illusion," Tecna crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her weight on one foot. A proud smile across her face as she gazed at her creation, "Made it with my magic,"

Despite being a product of the enemy's technology, Stella couldn't help but marvel at it. Tecna truly was ahead of their era with her work. No wonder the rebellion had a hard time defending against the Drakari technology.

Brandon strolled towards the ring, holding the rope as he ducked his body effortlessly through the partition. He turned around and leaned against the furthest post on the other side, eyes lowered and dark as they stared at the former princess.

Stella pulled herself up and stood in front of him, wiping the blade he had handed her against the fabric of her pants. She could see her own eyes reflect on the metal, the determination but above all the hesitance she saw within them made her stomach clench.

Her glare flickered up at the man who took everything from her, his back against the post and his hands tucked into his pockets as he watched her smugly.

She was going to make him feel the pain he made her feel, she swore to herself that much.

"I'll let you have the first hit princess," He raised his chin and waited. He was unarmed, hands in his pocket, not even armour plates protecting him as his skin lay exposed.

But she knew better than to underestimate him.

Pulling the blade to the slide, she gripped the blade and charged at him. He didn't move till the last second, moments before the blade drove into the post he was standing on. Letting out a frustrated hiss, Stella pulled it out, noticing the wood of the hologram post had begun chipping, just like the real thing.

Not sparing a moment, she fell to the floor and swept her foot, attempting to demobilise him. Her foot didn't even connect with his as he bounded off the ground and landed unscathed a few feet away.

"I'm afraid it's going to take more than that," He taunted, and Stella gritted her teeth. He could see the visible frustration she was displaying and it was making his smirk widen.

"Come on princess, kill me,"

Stella shot towards him, blade steady in front of her and he manoeuvred again, but she had planned for that. Skidding her foot, she spun on her heel and sent the blade swinging where he would dodge to.

She was sure this was going to land. Her wrist connected with the side of his as Brandon raised his arm at the last second and blocked the blow. He looked unfazed as the tip of the blade sat mere inches away from the side of his face.

The speed and intensity she had delivered her hit made the ropes rattle but somehow he managed to block it without a problem. "Almost," He teased and Stella growled in annoyance.

She was far from done. Her free hand sent a left hook right at his unguarded face, one which he cut off with his other hand. Her shoulder stung with every left-handed movement but she kept going. And another, and another. Every punch she was throwing, he was blocking at close combat, his speed matching her insanely fast hits packing just as much power.

Stella could tell he wasn't trying.

She was running out of energy keeping up her inhumane pace and he wasn't even using a fraction of what he was capable of, there wasn't an ounce of doubt in his gaze.

He truly was a demon.

Brandon ducked her distracted punch and spun his body, ramming his elbow into her stomach. The impact sent her skidding back a couple of feet from how close she was to him.

She straightened up and met his gaze, cold, taunting and emotionless before an intense pain shot through her gut. Her lips parted and the red liquid splattered on the floor in front of her feet as she stared at it eyes wide.

She didn't even feel anything on impact, but it definitely caused internal damage.

Just how fucking strong had he become?

Her stomach hurt so bad and every muscle in her body ached. He had done an immense amount of damage. Not to mention her slowly healing shoulder was now bleeding into her shirt again.

She couldn't beat him. Not like this. Not with the way she was now. He was right, she was weak.

"You aren't even trying, princess," Brandon mocked, his gaze darkened and he smirked, "It's going to take more than that to avenge your father,"

Stella wiped the blood on her bottom lip with the back of her hand, "Shut up." She hissed, and his smirk widened knowing he was getting a reaction out of her.

"Kill me, princess, kill me like I killed your father," He continued without a shred of compassion, "Come on, do it!"

She could feel the fury pumping through her veins at the harrowing memory of the same red liquid pooled around her father. Her kind, loving father who wanted nothing but peace for his kingdom.

The generous king who wanted nothing more than the happiness of his daughter and people.

In her eyes, Brandon Silver wasn't standing in front of her in the ring anymore. The devil towered over her with bloodied hands and a sinister grin that made the hairs on her neck raise.

Kill him. Kill him.

Stella's fists clenched as she raised her head and heavy pants rose at her chest. An insatiable amount of bloodlust surged through her veins, stopping at her forearms like a pipe about the burst.

Brandon's riveted gaze flickered down to his own forearm, the same glowing emblem materialising on his skin in bright gold. The implant was working. He gazed up at the fairy of the shining sun standing before him, her body pulsating in the same gold aura.

The sceptre was responding to her wrath.

"Initium," He spoke monotonously and immediately Stella felt herself go blind in the rage that was coursing through her body before.

In the blink of an eye she shot across the ring and Brandon raised his wrist, cutting off a devastating blow of magic as the shaft of the sun sceptre slammed against his glove. He could feel it burn right through the leather and at his bare skin, drawing blood as the attack sent him skidding back away from her.

"Fuck," He let out a malevolent laugh as Stella lowered the sceptre, hanging it in her grip as she glared at him. Her eyes weren't their usual honey hazel anymore, an almost gold light reflecting off them letting him know she wasn't aware of what she was doing.

She was fighting subconsciously again. It seems the sceptre responds to her emotions but she can't control them or it properly, hence the sceptre controls her.

She charged at him again, at a speed invisible to the untrained eye that he avoided by a hair as the sceptre slammed into the ropes of Tecna's illusion training room. The impact caused an explosion of power, sending the rubble flying against the walls. The room glitched, unable to render the complete image with the devastating damage her magic had done.

"Commander, call it off, she's going to destroy the castle at this rate," Tecna called out over the speakers. She had never seen the sceptre in action until now, and quite frankly, none of her machinery was enough to contain that much power.

"She'll hit her limit soon," He shot back haughtily, "The sceptre drains too much of her energy,"

"We aren't testing her limit!"

Stella stood up, the same raging death stare in her eyes as the hilt of the sceptre slammed on the floor, causing another large dent.

The last time he timed her transformation on the ground of the rebellion base camp, she was able to stay on her feet for around 45 seconds before she hit her threshold. They were about 30 seconds in, within the next 15, she should collapse and black out completely.

But Tecna was right, he wasn't here to test her limit just yet.

Her body kicked off the ground right at him, sceptre pulled back to send a final blow right at his neck, "Finis," He commanded just before she landed her hit and suddenly it was like someone had drained her body of that unexplainable rage.

Stella's eyes dimmed back to their usual hazel colour and her grip on the shaft of the sceptre vanished. Her face was right in front of him as he cocked his head down to her level with a mocking smirk.

"Well done princess," He murmured smugly, "The implant works just as expected,"

Stella gazed down at her bare hands, shock and confusion riddling her mind. One moment she was glaring at Brandon Silver with an intense amount of hate and the next thing she knew she was standing inches away from his face.

Everything in between was a blotchy sequence of hazy events she could barely remember.

The stinging sensation on her shoulder was gone and so was the pain in her stomach, it was as if she never went hand-to-hand with him. The only thing that made a feel like she did engage in a fight was the lack of energy she felt. It was like someone had knocked the wind right out of her leaving her with barely enough strength to keep standing.

The combat ring illusion in the training room faded away replaced by the default white tiled walls and floor it had to begin with. The door leading back to the lab hissed open as Tecna stormed in looking the least bit impressed.

"Dammit commander, it's going to take me all day to fix this," She muttered in irritation as she walked past Stella towards something behind her. She turned around slowly, following Tecna's figure before staring eyes wide at what she was referring to.

Behind her the once levelled floor of the training room had taken a bone-chilling blow right into the ground, revealing the dirt underneath. The crater created was about the size of a small swimming pool with the same depth as a person.

Did Brandon do that? No, she wouldn't survive a hit like that if he dealt it.

"Who did that-" She wheezed through parted lips.

Brandon's head dipped down close behind her, his warm breath brushing against the shell of her ear as he spoke with a sinisterly amused tone, sending chills down her spine. "You did, princess," he murmured.

I hope he's hateable enough...

OMG BEFORE I FORGET, I had a weird brain so to function like a normal human being in society and concentrate, I use music hehe, in other words: This story actually has a playlist hehe, so I'll probably start doing song of the chapter or something hehe.

But for anyone rereading the song I wrote this with is called Alibi by Sevdaliza (it's a booktok edit song to the book called Cruel Prince hehe)

Lots of love,

Star