Chapter 11 — Vespera’s POVThe second full day of formal protocol began the moment I opened my eyes and found Thorne already dressed and standing at the foot of the bed, the quiet authority in his posture making it clear that every small freedom I had still clung to the day before was about to be stripped away. I sat up carefully, the collar shifting against my throat, and waited. He did not speak at first. He simply pointed to the rug, and I slid from the mattress to my knees with my thighs parted and my hands resting on my thighs, the position already beginning to feel less foreign than it had only twenty-four hours earlier.“From this moment until I say otherwise,” he said, voice calm and absolute, “you will ask permission for every single thing. You will ask before you stand, before you drink, before you eat, before you use the bathroom, before you speak anything that is not a direct answer to a question I have asked. If you forget, the consequence will be immediate and unpleasa
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