Page 31

“Adrian hurt you.”

“He fucking annoyed me. The throne did most of the damage.”

Stellan’s gaze stayed on the bandage. “He used your injury to trigger a Claiming you’d refused. Lenora stopped him doing worse, but she still brought him into the room.”

“You don’t trust her.”

“I trusted her once. She served me, then helped Edith close these chains after Cecily died. Today she warned you and challenged Adrian. I don’t know which choice was hers and which one he forced.”

I let the history sit between us.

I stopped outside the reach he’d shown me and rolled one cup across the stone. He caught it with his free hand.

“Water won’t help the hunger,” he said.

“It’ll help everything else. Drink it.”

He looked at the cup, then at me. “Ask rather than order where you can. Harrowmere was built to give royal commands weight, and the Claiming has already recognised you.”

I replayed the words. The cup remained steady in his hand, and no new marks had appeared on the chains.

“Did I just force you?”

“No. You gave an ordinary instruction, and I wanted the water. Intent matters. A command becomes dangerous when you expect the court to make me obey.”

“I don’t expect that.”

“Good. Keep it that way, especially if you’re angry or frightened. The Crown will offer certainty because it knows people reach for control when they’re scared.”

I didn’t like any power that required me to monitor the shape of every sentence. “Then I’ll ask when it matters, and you’ll tell me immediately if the court interferes. I’m keeping both keys and Edith’s case in the bedroom. I’m not touching the fucking Crown. I’m also not opening another restraint until I understand what the Claiming is doing.”

Stellan drank half the cup before answering. “All sensible. I’ll warn you when my reach, hunger or control changes. I won’t ask for blood while you’re deciding what you believe, and I won’t enter the rooms unless you invite me after the chains allow it. One addition: keep the sitting-room door open while you’re awake. If Adrian finds another way in, I need to hear it.”

“And when I sleep?”

“Lock the bedroom. Put the kitchen knife where you can reach it. I can hear the service passage from here, and I’ll wake you if anything enters.”

“Do vampires sleep?”

“Yes. Not while a human woman is locked nearby with one of my fucking enemies outside.”

The answer was protective, but it also carried enough hunger to warm my skin.

I sat against the far wall and ate. The soup was hot, the bread fresh and the tea exactly how I took it. Harrowmere knew how much milk I preferred. That bothered me more than moving furniture would have.

Stellan finished the water and set the cup down. He kept his face turned from me while I ate, although I felt his attention whenever I lifted the spoon.

“Does human food make it worse?” I asked.

“No. Your pulse does. Your body is recovering from blood loss, and I can hear the effort in every heartbeat. The stored blood bought me control, not satisfaction.”

“How long will it last?”

“Several hours if the court stays calm. Less if Adrian attacks the seal or Harrowmere tightens the chains again.” He rubbed the raw skin around his open wrist. “You don’t need to solve that tonight. Distance and a locked door remain the safest choice.”

He would suffer most from the distance, but he still advised it.

I finished the soup and carried the dishes back to the kitchen. The court cleaned them when I set them in the sink. I decided not to argue with the first helpful thing it had done.