The apple hits my palm with barely a whisper.
Princess Lyra presses it into my hands in the shadowed alcove behind the kitchens, her violet eyes darting nervously toward the corridor. "Quickly," she breathes. "Before someone sees."
I should refuse. Should push the fruit back into her delicate hands and return to my corner like the obedient pet I'm supposed to be. But hunger claws at my stomach with vicious teeth, and the apple smells like salvation.
"Why?" I whisper, already knowing I'll take it. Already feeling saliva flood my mouth at the thought of sweet flesh between my teeth.
"Because it's wrong." Her voice shakes with conviction. "What he's doing to you - it's wrong."
I bite into the apple before I can think twice. Juice runs down my chin, sweet and perfect, and I have to bite back a moan of relief. Three days of starvation make this single piece of fruit taste like the finest delicacy.
"Thank you," I breathe, meaning it more than she could ever know.
Lyra smiles - soft and sad and beautiful. "Don't thank me. Just... survive. Please."
She slips away like a ghost, leaving me alone with the forbidden fruit and the first kindness I've known in this place. I eat every bite, core and all, then lick my fingers clean of the evidence.
But evidence, I'm learning, is impossible to hide from a vampire prince.
*****
"You smell different."
Kael's voice cuts through the evening silence like a blade. I'm kneeling beside his chair as usual, watching him dine while my stomach no longer screams with desperate hunger. The apple has taken the edge off, given me strength I shouldn't have.
Strength that apparently shows.
"Master?" I keep my voice neutral, innocent.
He sets down his goblet and turns to study me with those dark eyes that see too much. "Apples," he says simply. "You smell like apples and... kindness."
My blood turns to ice, but I don't move. Don't breathe. "I don't understand."
"Don't you?" He rises from his chair with predatory grace, circling me like a shark scenting blood. "Someone fed my pet. Someone showed mercy where I showed none."
The temperature in the room drops ten degrees. I can feel his rage building like a storm, cold and terrible and aimed at whoever dared interfere with his game.
"It won't happen again," I say quickly. "I'll refuse-"
"Oh, but you already accepted." His fingers tangle in my hair, jerking my head back to meet his gaze. "The question is - who was foolish enough to show kindness to what belongs to me?"
I don't answer. Can't answer. Won't condemn the one person in this castle who's shown me mercy.
"No matter." His smile is winter wind and sharp teeth. "I already know."
He moves to the door and yanks it open. "Guards! Bring Princess Lyra to my chambers. Now."
"No!" The word tears from my throat before I can stop it. "Please, she was just-"
"Just what? Just defying my explicit orders? Just undermining my authority? Just treating my property like it belongs to her instead of me?"
Each word hits like a physical blow. This is my fault. My weakness, my hunger, my acceptance of her kindness - it's going to destroy her.
Heavy footsteps echo in the corridor, and then Lyra appears in the doorway flanked by two guards. Her face is pale but determined, chin lifted with royal pride even as fear flickers in her violet eyes.
"Brother," she says calmly. "You summoned me."
"I did." Kael moves to stand behind me, his hand heavy on my shoulder. "It seems my dear sister has been playing with my toys."
"She was starving." Lyra's voice doesn't waver. "I gave her an apple. That's all."
"That's all?" Kael's laugh is sharp as breaking glass. "That's everything. That's defiance of my orders. That's treason against your prince."
"Then punish me." Lyra steps forward, hands clasped behind her back. "But leave her out of it."
"Oh, I intend to punish someone." Kael's grip on my shoulder tightens. "The question is who."
He moves to a cabinet I've never seen opened, withdrawing something that makes my blood freeze. A whip. Not the ceremonial kind used for show - this one is meant for pain. For breaking. For turning defiance into screaming submission.
"Twenty lashes," he says conversationally, testing the whip's weight. "For the crime of mercy."
"Kael, no-" Lyra starts forward.
"Ah, but here's where it gets interesting." His smile could freeze hellfire. "You get to choose, Pet. Twenty lashes for my beloved sister, who committed the crime... or twenty lashes for you, who benefited from it."
The choice hits me like a physical blow. I look at Lyra - beautiful, kind Lyra who showed me the first mercy I've known in this place - and see the fear she's trying so hard to hide.
Twenty lashes would destroy her. Her delicate skin, her gentle spirit - she wouldn't survive it. Not like I might.
"Me," I say without hesitation. "I choose me."
"No!" Lyra lunges forward. "I won't let you-"
"It's done." Kael's voice cuts through her protest. "The pet has chosen. Guards, restrain the princess. She needs to watch what her kindness costs."
They hold Lyra back as Kael approaches me with the whip. I can see something flickering in his dark eyes - surprise, maybe, or something deeper he doesn't want to name.
"Strip," he commands. "If you're going to pay for her crime, you'll do it properly."
My hands shake as I pull the simple dress over my head, letting it fall to the stone floor. The brand on my hip throbs, a cruel reminder of who I belong to, and I know this will be so much worse.
"Turn around. Hands against the wall."
I press my palms against the cold stone, feeling the weight of three pairs of eyes on my naked back. Lyra's horrified. The guards' indifferent. And Kael's...
Kael's burns like fire.
"Count them," he says softly. "And thank me for each one."
The first lash tears across my shoulders like liquid fire. Pain explodes through my nervous system, white-hot and consuming. But I've felt worse. Will survive worse.
"One. Thank you, Master."
"Stop this!" Lyra's voice breaks on a sob. "Please, Kael, I'm begging you-"
The second lash cuts deeper, and I taste blood where I bite my tongue to keep from screaming.
"Two. Thank you, Master."
"She chose this," Kael tells his sister, but his voice sounds strained. "She chose your pain over hers. Remember that."
By the fifth lash, blood runs down my back in warm streams. By the tenth, my vision blurs with tears I refuse to let fall. By the fifteenth, I'm fighting to stay upright, to keep my voice steady as I count and thank him for each stripe of agony.
"Twenty. Thank you, Master."
The whip falls silent. Blood pools at my feet, and my back feels like it's been set on fire. But I'm still standing. Still unbroken.
"Clean her up," Kael says roughly, not looking at either of us. "Both of you. Get out of my sight."
As the guards help me from the room, I catch one last glimpse of his face. He's staring at the blood on the whip with an expression I can't read - regret, maybe, or something deeper and more dangerous.
Something that looks almost like fear.
But it's Lyra's whispered words as she helps me down the corridor that send ice through my veins:
"He's never hesitated before. Never. The others - he enjoyed breaking them. But you... God help us all, I think you're breaking him instead."
And in the darkness behind us, I can still feel Kael's eyes burning into my bloodied back, watching the girl who chose agony over cruelty disappear around the corner.
Watching the pet who's somehow become the predator.