“Where are you taking her?” he repeated, baring his teeth at the guard.
This time the guard glanced at him, a smirk on his face. “Our High Lord desires her company again.”
Varyth’s face transformed, a feral snarl ripping from his throat. “No.”
The guard’s smirk widened as he tightened his grip on my arm. “It wasn’t a request.”
I met Varyth’s gaze, trying to convey a sense of calm I didn’t possess. The last thing we needed was for him to provoke the guards, to give them another reason to hurt him.
“It’s fine,” I said, steadier than I expected. “I’ll be fine.”
Varyth didn’t listen. “Let her go. Now. Or I’ll?—”
“You’ll what?” the guard sneered, his grip on my arm tightening painfully. “You’re nothing but a caged animal now, High Lord.”
Even with his power bound, Varyth radiated lethal intent.
“I will tear this fortress apart stone by stone,” he said, each word edged with deadly promise. “I will find every person you’ve ever cared about. And I will make you watch as I unmake them.”
Varyth continued, eerily calm. “I will ensure that your death is so prolonged, so exquisite in its agony, that the memory of it will linger in these halls for centuries.”
The guard’s smirk faltered, his fingers twitching against my arm.
“And that—” Varyth didn’t blink. “Is just for touching her.”
Unease rippled across the guard’s face before he masked it with contempt. “Big words from someone in chains.” But there was a new tension in his shoulders, an instinctive wariness that hadn’t been there before.
I swallowed hard. “I’ll be back,” I said quietly. “Just… stay alive. All of you.”
His jaw clenched, muscles working beneath his skin as he fought to control himself. The others were awake now, watching silently, tension thick in the stale air.
The guard yanked me toward the door, and I didn’t resist. There was no point. As I was dragged from the cell, I caught onelast glimpse of Varyth’s face—pale with fury, his eyes burning with feral promise.
I stumbled as the guards dragged me through the corridors, the opulence of the Nyxarian palace a jarring contrast to the squalor of our cell. My pulse kicked hard, like it was trying to outrun something, or perhaps the someone who awaited me.
Ashterion.
We didn’t go to the dining space this time.
The doors swung open, and I was thrust inside with such force that I collapsed to the floor. Pain ripped up my leg. But I clenched my jaw, determined not to react in front ofhim. The room was vast, elegant in its darkness. Obsidian floors polished to a mirror shine, furniture carved from some midnight wood I couldn’t name, tapestries depicting ancient battles hanging from walls illuminated by floating orbs that flickered with threads of golden or silver light, like lightning contained.
Ashterion stood by a window, his back to me, silhouetted against the pale moonlight filtering through glass. He didn’t turn when I entered, didn’t acknowledge me at all.
I was frozen, half crumpled on the floor, heart hammering against my ribs as Ashterion remained motionless by the window. The silence between us was cautious, bracing for what would come next. This chamber was different from the dining room, more personal, more intimate. Books lined dark shelves along one wall, ancient tomes bound in leather and metal. A massive bed dominated the far side of the room, draped in midnight silks.
His private chambers. The realisation sent ice sliding down my spine.
I swallowed hard, trying to still the trembling in my limbs. The instinct flared between my ribs,run, but there was nowhere to go. The door had already closed behind me, the guards stationed outside. I was trapped.
“Why am I here?” I asked, steadier than I expected.
Ashterion turned from the window, his midnight-blue eyes finding mine across the room.
“You continue to fascinate me,” he said finally, moving away from the window with that unsettling grace all fae possessed. “Most humans would have broken by now.”
I lifted my chin, refusing to show fear. “Sorry to disappoint.”
A faint smile touched his lips. “On the contrary. Your resilience is... refreshing. I find myself wanting to see it up close.” He took another step towards me. “But first, you’ll get cleaned up. You smell worse than last time.”
