The air in Evangeline's lungs turned to glass, fractured not by the kiss itself, but by the curve of a mouth that didn't belong to the Silver she knew. In the wake of his words, the silence grew oppressive—a physical weight, heavier than the iron cinched around her wrists.
She reached for the frayed edges of her authority, but her voice betrayed her, surfacing thin and jagged. "Silver... enough. Release me, or I swear I will incinerate every spark of the essence I just restored."
He didn't flinch. Instead, he leaned in until the chill of his breath grazed the shell of her ear. "You demand fealty, my Lady, yet recoil when the servant's heart overflows?" His voice carried the dry rasp of steel sliding against steel. "You were the one who wound the gears back to life. You chose to pull me from the quiet. Now, you must endure the noise of my awakening."
