A soft knockyanks me back to reality—back to the colourful confines of my prison.Locks click as Kael steps across the threshold, closing the door carefully, as if the room might break.
“New garments,” he says, tossing a folded tunic onto the bed.“They want you ready.”
I push myself upright, pulling the duvet to my chest as if he could see the heat ghosting under my skin.The world sways; I catch my head in my hands, waiting for the motion to top.It doesn’t.I wipe the remnants of sleep and memory from my face and look at the grey fabric at the foot of the bed.
His silver gaze lingers longer than yesterday.The set of his jaw is the same, but the weariness behind his glasses is new.
“Did you rest?”
A grunt is my only answer.I reach for the fabric; it’s thicker than yesterday’s robe—coarse enough to bite.
“Have you eaten?”he asks, nodding toward a tray on the table I hadn’t noticed.
“No,” I grumble.
“I suggest you eat.You’ll need your strength.”
“I’m sure I’ll need more than food for what’s coming.”
Pulling back the covers, I move to leave the bed.Kael clears his throat, facing the door to offer me privacy as I snatch the clothes and head for the washroom.
My haunted reflection stares back through the rainbow-rimmed mirror.I look worse than yesterday; eyes sinking further into their sockets, skin tight against my cheekbones, hair a nest of brittle black strands.I inhale the honeysuckle air—a comfort still tainted by deceit.
I douse my face in water, forcing myself to wake for whatever today brings.I still feel like a walking bruise, my body barely mine to move.
“Are you done?”Kael bangs on the door, a sharp, impatient sigh bleeding through the wood.
I smile at the frustration I’m causing him.“Almost,” I lie.I take the pendant off again, having sought its comfort through the night; its absence feels like a missing limb.
“Hurry up.”
I let the silence unnerve him.
“Seren…?”
I offer no reply.I change into the coarse garments, my movements slow and uncooperative.
I grab the handle and force the door open, only to stumble back at his sudden closeness.He leans against the frame, crowding the space as a gravelly growl builds in his chest.
“Don’t.Ignore.Me,” he says through a tight jaw, a vein pulsing wildly.
Splinters of sapphire and emerald cut through the cold grey of his gaze.I find myself staring again, waiting for the colours to swirl in that silver current.Heat flashes my cheeks, but I stand my ground, defiance lacing my posture.
“Oh, I’m sorry.I thought it was a rhetorical question.”The corner of my mouth lifts, words dripping in sarcasm.
I try to shoulder past, but he’s a wall of stone.In a single motion, his hand snaps out and catches my wrist; he hauls my arm up until my face is level with his.The world narrows to the heat of his breath.
“You will do as I say.”
I claw at his hand, and his skin tears.His eyes flare grey and blue—light under ice—then he closes them.When they open, the light is gone.He releases me with a sharp motion that feels like a command.
I swallow, trying to form words that only scrape my throat.I force my hands to my sides and flex my wrist, a small motion I hope he doesn’t see.
He leans an inch closer.“Continue,” he says quietly, “and you’ll learn how much control I actually have.”
He steps back, the distance between us becoming a lesson.
I clear my throat.“Noted.”
