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“They taught her nothing of bonds despite the curse they laid on us,” Xavian mutters, and the contempt in his tone makes my stomach twist. I bare my teeth at him, ready to spit something venomous, but movement from Eagan off to the side makes me pause. When I glance at him, he looks away, his jaw tight, eyes fixed on the map wall as if staring harder will erase what Kylian is about to do. The shame of that nearly chokes me because even Eagan cannot watch.

“Who,” I rasp, my voice breaking in the middle. Xavian’s gaze flicks to me with something almost pitying, which makes me want to tear his throat out.

“The Arcanum,” he answers, as if that is obvious, as if the fact that I am ignorant is an insult. His eyes cut to Kylian’s mouth near my hairline, watching the tremor running through Kylian’s breath. “You truly have no idea what bonded means, do you?”

I swallow hard, and the movement makes Kylian’s hand flex in my hair like he feels every tiny reaction of my body, as if it is tied to his, and I hate that he can read me when I can barely read myself. “He’s said it before, but I thought it meant what the Elven King does, taking mates for breeding.”

Xavian clicks his tongue and shakes his head slowly like he is disappointed in the entire world for leaving me this unarmed. “That is different. The elves take mates to secure bloodlines and to breed. A bond is not breeding, and it is not ownership, no matter how much kings try to turn it into that. A bond is soul tying, it is sacred, rare, and it is feared because no one likes the idea of tying their existence to another being’s fate. Which is exactly why Kylian is losing his mind right now, because he can force your body to submit but he cannot force your soul to accept what he is demanding.”

My breath catches, and I feel Kylian shudder against me. Kylian’s mouth grazes my temple, not quite a kiss this time but something close enough to make my skin burn. His voice comes out low and hoarse like he is speaking to himself as much as to me. “I do not want this memory in your head. I do not want your first taste of me to be fear. I do not want to taint you.”

“Taint,” I whisper. My whole life, all I’ve known is servitude, hunger, and loss. Yet the way he says it makes it sound like there are worse stains than spilled blood.

Xavian’s eyes narrow slightly, and when he speaks again, the amusement is gone, replaced by something colder and more political. “Mark my words, if he forces even half of a bond through domination and panic, it will have irreversible effects on both of you. It would not be a bond of trust or willingness. It will be a bond of resentment and hatred, and that is a dangerous mix for any king and his kingdom, because the rot does not stay between two people when those two people hold crowns. That’s if it sticks. Him forcing a bond without your consent could kill you both. Soul bonds only work when both people willingly accept.”

I stare at Kylian, and the rage that was filling my throat dies out. I see it now in the tension of his jaw and the way his eyes keep dipping to my mouth like he is bringing himself back from the brink of starvation. The realization terrifies me in a way my own power never did, because my power has always felt like mine, but this bond talk feels like a noose wrapped around my throat.

“Think carefully, Alessia. If you attack him, he’ll see it as a threat from me since you’re my bond. I won’t let you risk my people,” Kylian murmurs, his voice threaded with something that sounds too close to pleading. “You cannot burn your way out of this room, not against two kings, and if you force my hand, you will not only make an enemy of Xavian. You will make an enemy of everything I rule.”

I feel my power stutter under my skin as if it recognizes the wall I have slammed into, and my chest heaves once, twice, as I fight the urge to lash out anyway. Then I picture Sable again, my sister—despite what they believe—and I realize with sick clarity that if I burn this bunker down in a tantrum, I will die here, and I’ll never save her.

My shoulders sag a fraction, my hands unclench where they were gripping Kylian’s clothes. The moment my body relaxes in his hold, he presses his mouth to my forehead, slow this time, almost reverent.

“Good girl,” he breathes. He lets me go. Eagan quickly steps in and clamps his hand around my arm again. Instinct flares to fight, but I swallow it down.

“I have no intention of harming your sister, Alessia. I want to keep her away from Draven so he never gets to harness her power. If Draven finds her first. He will chain her to Emberfall until she forgets her own name. He will make her a weapon to use against our kingdoms.”

I hate the part of me that believes him. As Eagan drags me toward the corridor, my legs move with him, even while my heart races.

I twist once more to look back at Kylian. His furious gaze holds mine, and I know this is not over—not even close. He will punish me for what I’ve done, and I have no intention of sticking around to find out how. I need to find a way to get to Sable before King Xavian does.

The corridor swallows us again, and by the time we reach the surface, the warehouse noise has fallen silent. The world outside is brighter and harsher, and the moment we make it back to the piers where the ships are, my eyes dart around, looking for an escape.

“I know what you’re thinking, Alessia, but you’ve caused enough trouble!” Eagan growls, clearly furious with me. Despite his warning, I pull free of his grip and make a run for it. I’ve barely made it a few steps before his arms wrap around my waist, jerking me back.

“Nice try, but remember, Alessia, I am not your bond. I have no such qualms about feeding off you forcefully. If you try that shit again, you’ll find my teeth in your neck,” he warns.

“Did you forget I am your king’s bonded?” I spit.

Eagan chuckles. “Kylian would know if I was forced to feed on you to knock you out, that you gave me reason to.” With that, Eagan tosses me over his shoulder.

“Put me down, or I will sink this fucking ship!”

Eagan growls, but he does not take me back to Kylian’s quarters. Instead he hauls me downward into the belly of the ship where the light dies and the walls seem to sweat. Horror hits me when rows of cells full of humans come into view.

Eagan doesn’t even look at me as he shoves me toward a cell and locks me inside. I peer around at the other humans crammed into the darkness, their eyes catching the flickering light like frightened cats.

“Do it,” Eagan says, and for the first time there is real anger on his face. “Sink it. But I want you to look around at all the faces that will go down with it. So make sure to ask yourself if that is what you want, if that is what your sister would want, because I have seen kings burn entire cities for less. I have seen mages drown the world and think that makes them righteous. All it ever does is leave corpses behind.”

The metal door clanks shut, and I stumble back. In the next cell, five girls—all younger, with big, frightened eyes—shrink away from me as if I am the monster to be wary of.

The youngest one sits by herself in the corner closest to the door. She’s around twelve maybe, not old enough to have lost her childlike features. They don’t belong here, none of these people do. This little girl should be playing outside, not sitting in a cage, covered in filth, starving, waiting to work off a debt she never asked for—a debt she most likely inherited by losing a parent and becoming an orphan. She’s just like me and my sister, folded into the labor contract system when we had no one to protect us.

I don’t know how long I sit in this dank cell or if Kylian is ever going to let me out, but I notice the vessel’s motion changing as we head back out to sea. It’s hard to believe the king’s ship would depart without him, yet he didn’t come for me when he returned. I am still sitting here in the dark, not knowing what happened after I left.

I watch the guards come and go, bringing sandwiches, cleaning the waste buckets in each cell, and handing out fresh water. I stare at the rations in front of me with confusion. In the king’s flesh market, humans were forced to starve or were given scraps. This isn’t what I expected.

I’ve been fed well by Kylian, but if these girls spent any length of time in the flesh market, they could be eating for the first time in days. I pass my sandwich and water through the bars to them, and they snatch it up without so much as a thanks. I don’t blame them.