Chapter Six: Virtue and Vice

Lily’s Pov

“What is going on here?” Kia’s voice holds suspicion

My blood turned ice. Elta bleeding, Marathiel and I restraining her, the three of us tangled on the floor.

Fenric stood in the doorway, His eyes swept around.

“You’ve broken the first rule, stay invisible!” Seraphina barked

“She had a nightmare” Marathiel said quickly

“We were trying to calm her…” Zaryth cut me off

“Quiet!” Zaryth stepped inside. “On your feet, Now!”

Elta’s sobs reduced to low whimpering.

Marathiel released me, scrambling backward. I pushed myself upright , head spinning , blood sticky on my face.

Fenric raised his hand, and I felt it. The scorchveil spread like invisible fingers through the air, tracking my scents.

“Shit!” His growl made me flinch. “Her damned blood masked their scents” He roared, fury bleeding through his voice. “I can't tell if any of them were in the corridor earlier.”

Kia moved closer “A Tervin?” Kia's lips curled. They remember the future but not their own death.” She smirked wickedly

“She just ruined our search by tainting the air” Fenric snarled

“It is likely not them,” Kia said after a pause. “ One is Omega, another is Cursed and Damned while the third is a Tervin.” she scoffed

Then her gaze swept to Marathiel. To me. And stopped.

“Perhaps the old fortress plays a trick” Fenric replied, outrage thick in his tone.

I kept my gaze lowered, my heart hammering against my ribs. Don't look at her. Don't give her a reason…

"The white-haired one."

Seraphina's whisper was barely audible, but I heard it. It felt like a noose tightening around my neck.

"That's Gavin's new pet. The one from the ambush."

Silence stretched like a pulled thread about to snap.

When I dared glance up, Kia's expression had changed. The casual contempt had hardened into something else.

She is studying me now. Her eyes traced the patches on my skin, the wounds from the whipping, the blood drying on my face. I watched her throat work as she swallowed.

Then I saw it. The moment recognition sharpened into understanding.

Not just his slave. His fated mate.

The air between us crackled with unspoken violence.

Her hands, previously relaxed at her sides, curled into fists. Just for a heartbeat. Then she smoothed her expression back into cold serenity.

But I'd seen it. The rage. The jealousy. The possessive fury of a woman whose betrothed had been marked by fate for someone else.

For me.

"Who among you is assigned to my quarters?" Her voice was silk over steel.

My mouth went dry. Marathiel and Elta remained silent, eyes downcast.

The words fell from my lips before I could stop them. "I... I am."

Kia's eyes narrow. "And where were you yesterday evening? I sent for you. You never came.”

Before I could answer, Elta struggled forward: "It was my fault, my lady! She... she fainted on the way to your chambers.

The heat, her wounds... I found her collapsed. I took her to the streamside to revive her. By then it was past curfew. I couldn't risk both our lives in the corridors after dark."

"How convenient," Kia says coldly. "Report the moment dawn breathes," she ordered, her voice soft, almost intimate. "Not before. Not after. Dawn."

I nodded, my throat too tight for words.

I'm going to die, I thought distantly. She's going to kill me.

"Understood?"

"Yes, my lady.”

The moment they were gone, my legs gave out. I sank to the floor, shaking.

"Lily." Marathiel crouched beside me, her hand hovering over my shoulder. "What just happened?"

I shook my head, unable to speak.

***

I knocked before dawn broke.

"Who's there?" Kia's voice, thick with sleep.

"Lily."

The door swung open. Kia stood there, hair wild, lips bare, a brown sheet barely covering her body.

"So the cursed girl remembers her place." Her smile was cold. "Next time, come when I say. Not before. Prepare my bath."

***

My hands shook as I poured milk into the basin. Crushed petals floated on the surface like blood in water.

Nira appeared beside me. "Hurry. Before the bell."

We carried everything to the bathing chamber. Steam rose, thick and suffocating.

Kia entered, white robe sliding off her shoulders.

"Now," Nira whispered.

I poured. The liquid turned gold as it touched Kia's skin. She closed her eyes, sinking deeper.

"Discipline must be instilled with fear," she murmured, her voice echoing off the marble walls.

My stomach twisted.

"I'm through." Kia stepped out, water dripping from her body. She wrapped herself in a fresh robe, then turned to me with that terrible smile.

"Lily. Come here."

My feet moved before my mind could catch up.

"You've worked so hard this morning." Her voice was soft, almost kind. "You must be thirsty."

Nira handed her a jar. The bath water. Still warm.

"Drink."

The word hung in the air like a blade.

"My lady, I…"

"Are you refusing my generosity?" Her eyes darkened.

Two guards appeared. I hadn't heard them enter.

"Hold her."

Hands gripped my arms, forcing me to my knees. Another hand grabbed my hair, yanking my head back.

"Please…" My voice broke.

"Shhh." Kia knelt before me, jar in hand. "This is a gift. You should be grateful."

She pressed the rim to my lips. I clenched my teeth.

Her fingers found my jaw, digging in until pain forced my mouth open.

The milk flooded in, warm, sickeningly sweet, tasting of her skin, her oils, everything vile. I gagged. I tried to spit it out.

"Swallow." Her voice was steel.

The hand in my hair tightened. The guard's thumb pressed against my throat, forcing it down.

I swallowed. Choked. Swallowed again.

Kia poured more. And more.

Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the milk that spilled from my lips. My body convulsed, trying to reject it, but they held me fast.

"Every. Last. Drop."

When the jar was finally empty, they released me.

I collapsed, gasping, sobbing, the taste of her coating my tongue, my throat, poisoning me from the inside.

Kia stood, smoothing her robe. "Clean yourself up. You look pathetic."

Then she walked away, leaving me there on the wet floor, broken.

***

I barely made it to the stream.

My body revolted, heaving violently. I retched until my ribs ached, until there was nothing left but bile and shame.

Tears wouldn't stop. I knelt by the water's edge, shaking, trying to scrub the taste from my mouth, the memory from my skin.

Then I heard it, the splash of water.

I looked up through blurred vision.

A man. In the stream. Water sliding down bare shoulders.

Gavin.

My breath caught.

I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. I stumbled backward…

And fell.

The cold water shocked my system. I surfaced, gasping, disoriented…

And he was right there.

Our eyes met. He widened at the sight of me, tear-stained, broken, drowning.

The current pushed me forward.

My lips crashed into his.

For one impossible moment, everything stopped. The horror. The violation. All of it disappeared in that accidental touch of warmth.

Then reality slammed back.

I jerked away, choking on water and mortification.

"I'm sorry…I didn't…"

But his hands caught my shoulders, steadying me. His eyes searched mine, and something in his expression shifted, concern, confusion, something deeper.

"What happened to you?"

The gentleness in his voice broke something inside me. A fresh sob tore from my throat.

"I have to go."

"Wait…"

But I was already scrambling out, running, his voice calling after me, the ghost of his lips the only clean thing I'd felt all morning.