The handlers return. New route this time—through corridors that get progressively more ornate. Heading towardthe guest wing. The gilded cage where they keep the valuable ones.
The room they put me in is beautiful.
Silk curtains. A bed the size of my childhood bedroom. Gold fixtures on everything—the lamps, the mirror frame, the handles on the wardrobe doors. A balcony overlooking the gardens, locked from the outside.
I tested it.
The door locks behind them as the servants leave.
I stand in the center of the room and breathe.
My throat aches.
My face throbs.
The bruises on my arms have gone from red to purple, finger-shaped shadows that will yellow before they fade. My lip has finally stopped bleeding, but I can feel the swelling starting, my mouth gone lopsided.
Tomorrow, Kairis will continue my orientation. Whatever that means. Nothing good. But that's tomorrow, and today already used up everything I had.
I cross to the mirror and look at myself.
Same green eyes, same brown hair they've pinned up in some elaborate style I'll rip out. Same freckles my father calls imperfections.
Same bruises.
Different hands.
I sink onto the edge of the bed. The silk is soft against my legs. Everything in this room is soft, designed for comfort, and I want to tear it apart with my teeth.
I should be thinking about survival. Mapping the estate, identifying allies, finding the cracks I can exploit. That's what smart people do in cages—they plan their survival.
Instead I'm thinking about him.
The god of House Discord.
I keep circling back to it, and I keep telling myself to stop. He stood up. That's all. He stood up because Daiven hit me. Gods don't do that. Not for mortals. Not for anyone, probably. Politics maybe. Some power play I don't understand.
They do call him the Mad God for a reason.
That makes sense. That's the obvious answer.
Except he had an erection.
A very large one.
My face goes hot. The whole chamber noticed. He didn't even try to hide it.
My stomach flips.
No.
What thefuck.
Stop.
He's a god. I'm a debt payment. Whatever happened in that chamber has nothing to do with me. This is stupid. He's probably done this before, gotten off on violence, gotten off on—
But.
