ra

with weapons. Just wide, dark stone walls that felt... old, ancient, almost patient. The windows were tall, letting pale mountain

food. Fresh bread, sliced fruit, a bowl of stew still steaming faintly, a jug of water. Everything neat.

chains, thin red marks stubborn against fading. Proof I had been delivered here. Not welcomed. I pressed my

aight-backed, silver hair braided tight down her back, not for beauty, for discipline. He

ly. "I oversee transfers w

uests. Not priso

nly when permitted. And you will remember everythin

hamber. You are not imprisoned. You may move freely within the i

osened. Just slightly. Then

e the stronghold," sh

nued, "you will be restrained. If you try again, you will be punished."

quietly, "as long as I

rved, not a smile. Somet

, mountains rose wild and endless, peaks

ould understand Lycan law," sh

ticed,"

rank is absolute. Orders are not ques

d m

er the King'

Mira's eyes flicked to mine, then away, shar

k what she meant,

a deep voice from the doorway

pped back, lowering her head

mor. No symbol of rule. Just him. Broad, simple, impossibly presen

ael said calmly. "Not by guards.

eper. "Unders

aze neve

aid. "You will follow them. In

The words slipped out b

," he replied.

is voice dropped, cutting. "Do not

ne. Just certainty

d before lifting her head. "You hear

him?" I aske

o decide." She moved toward the door. "You wil

not named. Not touched. Not explained. I pressed my fingers into the thick

y. No questions. No curiosity. I ate because my body demanded it, not because I was

owers stretched into the darkening sky. Guards stood at their posts. Alert. Disciplined. They did not stare. They did not whi

eiling. Sleep refused to come. Every sound felt sharp. Every breath measured. Then... heat bloo

lm to my arm and froze. A thin red line marked my skin. Blood. I hadn't felt the cut. Di

to the blood. Something flickered across his face, fast, violent, gone. Heat f

ce pressed into the room, but I felt it deep inside me. A p

ntrolled. I didn't move. Didn't breathe. His g

broken. Not silent. And one truth settled deep in my bones: Lycan law was