The dungeon stank of rust and cold stone, yet it was not the chains or the silver that unsettled me most. It was the echo of Marcus's words, lingering like a sickness beneath my ribs.
Mercy.
That was the word he had used. His mercy was the leash around my wrists, the collar burning my skin, and Kaylan's hand gripping it like a gauntlet around my throat.
The Crimson Court had not dismissed after his pronouncement. No, they had lingered. Feeding. Testing. Watching.
Even now, their gazes clung to me, heavy as iron.
Kaylan shoved me to the floor of the chamber's center — the black stone table looming above, banners dripping crimson down the walls. My knees cracked against stone, the sting radiating up my thighs.
"On your knees where you belong," Kaylan snapped, yanking the chain until the collar choked me.
I gasped but lifted my chin anyway.
Lucian chuckled from his place lounging across the table, boots kicked up like this was a play staged for his amusement. "Careful, Kaylan. You might snap the little stray's neck before the trial even begins. And wouldn't that be such a waste?"
Kaylan's storm-gray eyes narrowed. "A beast must be muzzled."
"A beast can also be tamed," Lucian countered smoothly. "Or broken in… sweeter ways." His gaze flicked over me like heat, lingering at the pulse in my throat, the dried blood still there. Hunger glinted openly in his golden eyes.
"Pathetic," Kaylan muttered, jerking the chain again.
Dorian cleared his throat, adjusting the spectacles perched on his narrow nose as though the entire exchange bored him. Scrolls lay spread before him, covered in symbols I didn't recognize, and his ink-stained fingers moved rapidly. "Her shadow affinity cannot be ignored, Marcus. It should not even exist." His quill scratched the parchment faster. "Every record claims that strain was extinguished when—"
Selene spoke, her voice so soft it stole the chamber's attention. "Extinguished things have a way of clawing back through the dark."
The veil over her eyes shifted as though she could see more than the rest of them, as though she could see me. Her words brushed my skin like cold water. "But the pattern is unfinished. The threads tangle, knotting into futures I cannot unravel. Unless she is tested."
Marcus had not moved from his place at the head of the table. His presence filled every corner of the room, his stillness commanding as much as a blade drawn.
"Tested she will be," he murmured, his lips curving faintly. "But not only for combat. Power without loyalty is ash in the wind. Tonight, I want to hear her. I want to know if the fledgling understands the chains she wears."
My blood chilled.
Kaylan yanked me upright by the chain, dragging me to face Marcus fully. My wrists burned beneath silver cuffs, my ribs throbbed with every breath, but I forced myself not to bow.
"Speak," Marcus said softly. His eyes gleamed like a wolf in lamplight. "Do you know why I spared you, Aria?"
I spat blood to the stone between us. "Because you want a pet."
Lucian laughed out loud, delighted. Dorian's quill froze mid-stroke. Even Kaylan flinched, though her grip did not loosen.
Marcus's smile didn't falter. If anything, it deepened. "A pet?" He stepped closer, shadows trailing like smoke. "You think survival is the same as freedom?"
"Survival is enough." My voice was raw, but steady. "Freedom comes later."
His head tilted, almost curious. "Later?"
"You can collar me, burn me, bleed me. But chains don't last forever. Sooner or later…" I forced my eyes to meet his. "…they break."
The chamber held its breath.
For a heartbeat, I thought Marcus would strike me down then and there. His hand even lifted, a coil of shadow curling between his fingers like a whip of darkness.
But he didn't.
Instead, he let it unravel, dissipating into the air with a sigh. His voice turned velvet-smooth. "Such defiance. Dangerous… yet exquisite."
"Reckless," Kaylan snapped, shoving me forward until I fell hard to my knees again. "A stray like this isn't loyal to anyone."
"She will be loyal," Marcus said simply. His gaze slid toward Kaylan. "To me."
Kaylan's jaw clenched, but she bowed her head in obedience.
Lucian's smirk widened. "Or to whoever gets to her first."
Marcus ignored him, his hand lifting to silence further bickering. "Enough. Tomorrow, the trial begins. But tonight—" His eyes returned to me, cold and hungry. "—let her understand what mercy costs."
Kaylan dragged me backward, hauling me toward the dungeon corridors.
The last thing I saw as the heavy door shut was Lucian's wolfish grin, Dorian's frantic scribbling, and Selene's veiled face tilted toward me as though she whispered something only I could hear:
Threads cut, threads tied… choose well, little shadow.
The dungeon was worse than the battlefield.
Dark stone walls pressed close, dripping with moisture. Rats scurried in corners. Chains dangled from the ceiling, their hooks still glistening with old blood.
Kaylan shoved me inside a cell, locking the chain to a ring in the wall. Silver burned against my wrists, every twitch a hiss of smoke rising from my skin.
She stood in the doorway, arms folded, storm-gray eyes hard as granite.
"You think Marcus spared you because you impressed him?" Her voice was ice. "You think your shadows make you special? They make you dangerous. To him. To us. To yourself."
Her boot pressed against my chest, pinning me back against the wall. Pain flared through my ribs, but I refused to cry out.
"Tomorrow, I'll break you in front of them all," Kaylan whispered, leaning close. Her breath was sharp steel. "Not because Marcus asked me to. But because you need to learn your place."
She shoved me down, turned, and locked the door behind her.
The dungeon fell silent again.
I curled against the wall, blood seeping from my wrists, shadows stirring faintly at my back like restless wings.
They wanted out. They wanted to fight.
But I was too weak.
So I held them close, clutching the darkness within me like a secret.
Kaylan thought she would break me tomorrow. Marcus thought he owned me already. Lucian wanted to devour me. Dorian wanted to dissect me. Selene wanted to read me.
They all thought I was just a piece on Marcus's board.
But they had forgotten something.
Pieces can change the game.
And I would.
No matter the cost.