Chapter 1
Chapter One
The Hunt
MAGNOLIA
“Ineed you to go on a hunt.”
I flinched as Dahes’ voice slithered up my spine. I would have thought that after seven years of being his slave, I’d be used to him by now, but I wasn’t. I didn’t know if I ever would be.
“Who am I hunting this time?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral. It was how I tried to keep everything. I had to train myself to not react, to keep my face composed, to be emotionless, to hide the last shreds of humanity I was clinging to.
I was getting better at it. Some days I felt so numb that I swore I was one of the dead that Dahes ruled over beneath the castle.
“Three sisters,” he drawled as he made his way around my room.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him sit on my armchair.
My room—cage—was simple. It consisted of a single bed, two pillows, one blanket, one sheet, and a chair off to the side.
That was it. I didn’t have a bureau or any place to store clothes.
I didn’t need it. There was a clean outfit waiting for me every morning when I got up and a nightgown every evening, and on the occasions he’d send me hunting, my hides would be in its place.
Dahes crossed his knee over his leg as he leaned back in the chair, looking like he owned the place. Well—I guess he did. He owned everything in the Moriann Kingdom. The living, the dead, me…
“They go by the names Prae, Nuna, and Reli. They’re Wielders from Viven.”
I froze, my emotionless mask dropping as I tucked the last corner of my bed sheet into the mattress and turned to face him.
Dahes was smug. His lips thinned into a smirk as he took me in.
The seldom times he smiled, really smiled, it always caught me off guard.
He looked—well not dead. I hated that for a split second I was mesmerized by it, that I forgot he was a monster, his rot hidden beneath a striking face with hard lines.
“They’re being exiled to Moriann in the morning,” he continued. “I want you to bring them to me the moment they’re dropped.”
All Wielders originated from the Vivenian Kingdom. If you were lucky enough to have magic and be gifted a Token, that’s where you lived. Hilithia only had two kingdoms left after the war.
Viven—the court of life ruled by Elion.
And Moriann—the court of death ruled by Dahes.
I resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to see the kingdom of life. Once you were in the Dead Kingdom, there was no escaping.
I didn’t say anything, didn’t speak, just waited to see if he would give me more information.
His pale eyes soaked me in. Everything about him was white, except a thin band of blue around his irises, the same band that was now around mine, indicating that he owned me. He reminded me of a living ghost.
He rose from the chair. “You’ll dine with me tonight, and I’ll fill you in on what you need to know for the morning.”
I nodded, holding my breath as I watched him walk out of my room, not exhaling until after the stone slammed shut.
I hated it, hated that this room was supposed to be my only safe space in the castle, but it felt the opposite. He gifted it to me after my first year of slavery to protect myself from the dead and monsters that roamed the castle. No one was allowed entrance.
Except, it didn’t protect me from him, and he was worse than any monster or beast he kept locked below the castle. He could still enter. And regardless of whatever horrid creatures I had come across in my seven years here, nothing was as terrifying as him.
Two sentries rapped on my door later that night, my only indication that Dahes expected me for dinner. I had all day to wait, all day to work on becoming emotionless, but the sentries always rattled my hard exterior.
As soon as I opened the door, Dahes’ faceless guards stood waiting. I learned early on that their humanity had been effaced by the metal swallowing them whole.
They used to be human. Most were on the brink of death, desperate enough to not grasp the gravity of what they were doing when they made their deal with the devil.
I still remembered the first time I’d seen it happen.
Dahes was seconds away from killing a boy before he begged to be saved.
I watched as he swore to obey him, as his flesh melted off his body and he screamed, but then his voice was gone.
He couldn’t scream without a mouth. His eyes went next.
Everything morphed from human to metal. His bones reshaped, growing taller, broader.
Every sentry was exactly the same. The same height, same build, same movements.
Every inch of them was covered in impenetrable metal, even their heads were a circular silver sphere. Completely devoid of all human features—no faces, no expressions, no emotions.
It wasn’t a life. Death would have been the mercy.
I often wondered if Dahes kept their minds intact. If they knew exactly what was happening to them but were powerless to stop it. If some part of them still screamed inside the metal, still felt every moment of it.
Because even though I still possessed my human features, I could feel myself hollowing, feel my soul decaying, and eventually there would be nothing left of me for Dahes to take.
The sentries that escorted me through the halls left the moment we reached the dining room, leaving me alone with Dahes.
Every room in the castle felt eerily similar, at least the rooms I’d been allowed to enter. If there were any windows along the walls, they were open and barred, letting the wind shift through the halls.
Nearly every ceiling was vaulted, made entirely of glass that came to a five-pointed arch toward the top.
Not that it mattered, the fog was so thick outside Moriann that all you could ever see was the swirling gray haze.
Torches were scattered across the walls in sconces, providing the only light to enter the room.
Everything was dark and cold. Even when I crawled into bed each night and covered myself in the thin blanket, I was still freezing.
The stone floors of the palace felt like walking on ice, and whenever I was forced to speak, I could see my breath leave my lips in a puff of air.
It felt symbolic—like a visual representation of slowly dying.
“Why the long face, little ghost?” Dahes drawled as I started walking toward my seat. His bone-chilling voice echoed off the alabaster walls, carrying through the tension-filled air.
I forced a smile. Behave, do as I’m told, don’t ask questions—or things will be worse.
Dahes was sitting in his usual seat at the head of the table. The dark resin stone stretched nearly the length of the room, jarring against the palace’s otherwise light aesthetics. If I looked too long, I swore I saw glimpses of ivory underneath, like bones were solidified inside the stone.
The minimal furniture Dahes kept was all oversized, grim, and obscenely heavy. It was as if the castle was built to make its inhabitants feel minuscule and insignificant.
It didn’t have the same effect on Dahes. The table could easily fit fifty people around it, but he never looked small.
It surprised me the first time I truly saw him.
When I made my deal, all I saw was his looming figure and masked face, making him look more beast than man.
He hid his features until after he brought me here, and I couldn’t hide the shock coursing through me.
He looked mortal. Just tall and drained of color, but otherwise his features were the same as any other civilian.
I half expected him to have horns, or razor-sharp teeth, or claws the size of my face like the rumors portrayed.
Even if he didn’t look like one, he was still a monster. No one could be as cruel and powerful as he was and not lose themselves along the way.
“You look lovely, Magnolia.” Dahes’ voice broke the silence as his eyes raked over my body, his gaze wrapping around me like a snake before I felt the suffocation.
I was wearing a white slip. Thin straps kept the silky material from falling down, but it did nothing to stop me from feeling exposed. My long brown hair was loose behind my back, just how Dahes liked it, and I had to force myself not to push it in front of my shoulders.
“Thank you,” I said as I slid into my seat to the right of him. Only one chair occupied the head of the table—the one opposite was always left vacant. It ensured he alone faced the door. Another subtle power move, not that I’d ever eaten in here when the table was full. It was only ever us.
A single plate of food sat in front of me.
I learned not to question what I was eating.
I probably didn’t want to know. Dahes watched me take the first bite as he slowly sipped from his goblet.
It was all I ever saw him consume—thick red liquid that stained his lips before he licked it off.
It smelled metallic. I also learned not to question what he was drinking.
It took me ten chews before I could swallow the first bite.
Whatever I was eating was tough tonight.
My stomach stirred, and I had to fight the urge to throw up.
But it was the only meal I’d get. I was only allowed dinner if Dahes felt like dining with me.
I could only eat with him. If he wasn’t in the mood or if he had prior obligations, I didn’t get food.
“Make sure you finish your plate tonight. You’ll need your strength to bring all three girls back in the morning.”
I nodded, forcing another bite down my throat. Everything always felt so loud in the dining room. My fork and knife clattered against my plate, and the sound of my own chewing felt deafening to my ears.