“I’m your equal,” I say.
The word settles between us, not challenged, not questioned.
Accepted.
“Yes,” he says.
And just like that?—
Something final clicks into place.
I turn toward the door, my steps steady, deliberate, not rushing, not hesitating.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“To get ready,” I reply.
“For what?” he presses.
I pause at the threshold, glancing back at him.
“For them to see me,” I say.
He nods once.
“They will,” he says.
I hold his gaze for a second longer, then step through the door, the sound of it closing behind me sharp and final in a way that feels like punctuation.
Not an ending.
A declaration.
Because whoever I was before?—
That version of me doesn’t walk out of this room.
This one does.
And she doesn’t belong to anyone.
Not even him.
But she chose to stand beside him anyway.
And that?—
That changes everything.
CHAPTER 35
TYROK
The chamber hasn’t settled.
It looks like it has, from a distance, from the outside, from the way bodies have returned to stillness and voices have dropped back into quiet, but I can feel it underneath, the tension still moving through the room like a low current that hasn’t decided where it’s going to break.
They’re watching me.
