登入“Do you know why they whisper my name even centuries after the blood wars ended?” he purred, dragging the serrated edge of the hook across Caelum’s ribs, careful not to pierce too deep. “Because I perfected the art of unmaking a man without granting him release. Because I made kings beg to be slaughtered rather than endure another hour in my hands. Because when I burned a nation, there was not even ash left for the widows to scatter.&rdq
He carried him back into the cell like he owned him, laying him on the cot with mocking care. A guard appeared, dropping off a tray of food.Velis gestured toward it. “Shall I feed you again, pet?”“Like hell I would!” Caelum spat, his voice ragged.Velis’s smile sharpened. He crouched, resting his forearms on his knees, his face close enough that Caelum could feel his breath.“I’ll be away for a few hours,” he murmured. “Important duties. While I’m gone, try not to get yourself slaughtered. Because without me here…” His fingers traced the air just beside Caelum’s jaw, taunting. “…no one will keep the others from tearing you apart. No one wil
The attendants whispered nervously, stealing glances at their infamous overseer. “His blood is… unusual…,” one ventured.Velis’s glare froze the words in the healer’s throat.He leaned forward, close enough to feel the shallow heat of Caelum’s breath.His hand brushed over the boy’s sternum, where the heart had fallen still minutes earlier.He pressed his palm there again, as if to reassure himself of its return. The flutter was weak, so easily breakable.Velis hated it. Hated that such fragility could unmake him.“Come on, breathe,” he whispered bef
“Do you know why they whisper my name even centuries after the blood wars ended?” he purred, dragging the serrated edge of the hook across Caelum’s ribs, careful not to pierce too deep. “Because I perfected the art of unmaking a man without granting him release. Because I made kings beg to be slaughtered rather than endure another hour in my hands. Because when I burned a nation, there was not even ash left for the widows to scatter.”Caelum’s voice cracked, raw from pain, but Velis only smiled—eyes half-lidded, intoxicated by each ragged gasp.“I am the knife that history itself flinches from. That is why I am legend.”He tore another sound from the prince’s throat, exquisite in its desperation.Yet
The column groaned as Caelum sagged against it, sweat cutting rivulets down his chest.His breath came in shallow pulls, sharp as broken glass. The chains clinked with every tremor of his limbs.Velis sat perched on the altar’s edge, unhurried.He had not broken a sweat. His shirt hung open, collarbone catching the glow of the runes etched into the walls.His fingers idled along the silver parchment—stroking its surface as though it were skin.Then his gaze lifted.And fixed upon Caelum like a blade to the throat.“Strange, isn’t it,” Vel
The messenger's boots echoed against marble as he approached the Iron Throne—a seat carved from meteorite steel that had been cooled in the blood of traitors.Queen Isabella Salutregui sat with perfect posture, her silver hair braided with threads of gold that caught the afternoon light streaming through stained glass windows.At forty-three, she remained beautiful in the cold, precise way of a blade honed to perfection.The court had emptied hours ago. She preferred receiving certain reports in private."Your Majesty." The messenger dropped to one knee, his leather satchel bearing the wax seals that marked correspondence from the border territories. "Word from the Crimson Gates."
Chapter 26: The Sanctum of ViolenceCaelum woke in darkness.Not the ceremonial black that cloaked incense-thick temples. Not the dusky velvet gloom of the throne room where masks and mercy went to die.No, this darkness was intimate.It breathed.It pulsed.It reeked of old leather and cold metal, the perfume of bruised velvet and the faint, feral musk. A place where scent lived longer than memory. A sanctum dressed in silence thick enough to drown in.And Caelum—was still naked.But now bound. Oh, so exquisitely bound.







