Chapter Twenty-Seven Biting Tongues
"You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind."
A ripple of windless air swept through the space—subtle, but unnatural.
Adan didn't move. Not yet.
But the marble beneath her knees felt like it had cracked beneath her skin, and somewhere inside her chest, the last lock was coming undone.
A collective shiver seemed to roll over the crowd, though none could name why. Laughter faltered. The hush was slow, like silence creeping in through the cracks.
Darius still held her, his hand clenched around her neck, forcing her low before him like a prize. Like a threat caged in silk and bone.
Another gust—silent and strange—rippled through the chamber. Every flame danced harder.
Then—
The ballroom exploded in light.
Not fire--Not yet.
Just her.
Her power cracked out like a shockwave—colorless, radiant, terrifying. Every candle erupted into towering flame, licking the ceiling like the ballroom had breathed in a sun.
The marble under her knees fractured. Darius staggered back, screaming, his arm blistering from where he'd gripped her. The orchestra fled. Nobles ran. Guards began shouting.
Her power was suddenly snuffed out. Like a great wind had come and forced her to suck it back into herself.
The cold burning of iron sealed around her wrist before it was too late.
Her flames vanished--no smoke, no ash. Just the sharp echo of silence, and the smell of scorched earth.
Adan gasped, chest heaving once—twice—before her lungs remembered how to breathe. The iron chains clanked, a cruel sound. Her magic screamed against it, clawing inside her skin, but the shackle held fast.
A perfect design. Forged for her. Prepared for her.
Darius was panting a few feet away, his sleeve half-charred, his hand blistered and red. He winded like a man who had been dropped from a great height.
Her body trembled—not from weakness, but fury interrupted.
Across the ballroom, guards hesitated. Even they were shaken.
Darius moved quickly, back-handing Adan so hard that she fell to the marble floor on her side. Her hands now shackled together, making it impossible for her to stop herself. Blood pooled behind her teeth and she spat red against the sparkling white floors.
Somewhere behind, Nox was roaring as her head spun. She tried her magic again, it surged, slamming into the invisible walls of the device, only to rebound into her chest like a punch to the lungs. Gasping at the pain, Adan didn't notice a figure in white stepping forward.
Not a guard.
Not a Noble.
The High King-- Cias Dreadmore.
He moved like a ghost, robes trailing like mist, face carved from something older than stone.
his white feathered wings draping proudly behind him.
The High King didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
The room bent around his presence. Even the guards who hadn't yet moved now dropped to one knee.
Heads bowed. Silence absolute--Except for Adan's ragged breaths.
Someone had gagged Nox, she realized as she looked up to see the approach of the king. His bright-green eyes burned with venom at the sight of Cias. Nox bucked in his captors arms, "sedate him," Cias murmured to no one in particular.
Adan watched helplessly as they produced a vial and syringe.
Her eyes widened, and her magic flared uselessly as the needle plunged into his tattooed neck.
He trashed before quickly slumped in their arms.
She knew what they had done. It was the same poison from the arrow that she had just saved him from.
It would keep him motionless, silent--but he would feel and hear everything.
"Father," Darius greeted, but Cias didn't acknowledge him.
He only crouched beside Adan, his robe pooling like fresh snow. He reached out, and with the gentlest touch, brushed a strand of honey hair from her temple.
"You remember this feeling, don't you?" he said softly. Almost tender. Adan didn't speak. She couldn't. Her breath was still caught behind pain and fury. Her mouth filled with blood again. She swallowed it down. Cias leaned closer.
"Do you know what I saw when the sphinx showed me your betrayal?"
he whispered, low enough only she could hear.
"Not just fire. Not just a rebellion. I saw the end of everything. My empire, my son, my name."
His eyes, so pale they were nearly colorless, glinted with something old and ugly.
"But even now... I see you hesitate... for him."
Adan's gaze didn't falter. She wouldn't allow herself to look over at Nox and give herself away--even if she had already lost.
Cias' breath stirred against her skin, his presence suffocating.
The world felt small, with nothing but the weight of his gaze and the pressure of the iron around her wrists.
Her only hope was that the sphinx never mentioned who Adan was--what she was. Cias would have mentioned it by now.
Cias rose, and nodded to his son. Darius's grip on her neck, again, tightened and his hot breath fanning her ear.
"You're mine now." The collar fell and locked around her neck with a dooming click.
Fast. Precise. The pressure on her throat tightened as he pressed closer, his words a final mockery.
"You were never more than a slave, Adan. You will never be free." A soft, cruel laugh escaped his lips.
Cias walked away from her without a second glance. He raised his hand to signal the guards and son. "Take them to the gladiator pits," he ordered. "We'll finish this in front of everyone. Let them see what happens to those who defy me."
Adan's heart hammered in her chest, but she kept her expression steeled. The collar, cold against her skin, was the final tether that bound her. She swallowed the bitterness that rose in her throat, not giving Cias the satisfaction of seeing her struggle. She would not give him that.
Darius tightened his hold on her, pulling her roughly to her feet. The burning iron chain around her wrists scraped against her skin.
Adan's eyes flicked briefly toward Nox, but she didn't let herself linger on how his body slumped in the guard's arms. His feet dragging against the floor as they dragged him away. She could feel the weight of his pain, his helplessness, but she refused to give in to it. Not now.
"Move," Darius growled, his grip on her neck tight as he jerked her forward. The dark gleam in his eyes was both triumphant and pitiless.
As they moved her through the marble halls, the heavy weight of the collar pressed down on her, but it didn't crush her will. She could feel the echoes of her power, trapped just beneath the surface, raging against the cage they had put her in.
The gladiator pits awaited. A spectacle.
The guards circled her, ready to follow orders, she could feel their eyes on her. She locked her eyes on Nox's back, as Darius forced her to move, his arm her new leash.
Darius jerked her closer, forcing her back to his front while keeping pace.
"We will be making a little stop before dumping you in the Pits."
Adan's stomach whirled. "Don't worry, I won't impair you like your lover."
He spat, his fingers digging into Adan's neck, forcing a raspy wheeze out.
"I want you screaming for what comes next."
The heavy pommel of Darius's blade came down on the back of Adan's head--a sharp, brutal blow that sent stars skittering across her mind.
Her knees buckled as blackness overtook her vision, and she unwillingly crumbled in his arms.
--
Adan's eyelids fluttered open, the world around her coming into focus like a slow-motion replay.
Her head throbbed—every inch of her body ached—but it was the cold, unforgiving steel beneath her that made her heart race.
She didn't recognize where she was. The room was small, suffocatingly so. Six by six. No windows, no escape.
The only source of light was the faint, ethereal glow from a hanging glass orb.
Inside, a small undine swam lazily, its translucent form shimmering like a faint star.
The creature's soft, steady glow barely illuminated the stark, metallic walls, casting long, eerie shadows that seemed to stretch toward her, reaching for her.
She struggled against her restraints, the iron cuffs biting into her wrists and ankles, keeping her spread-eagled to the cold bed. The chains rattled faintly as she tested their strength, but they didn't give. She could barely move. Panic rose in her chest, but she swallowed it down.
Stay calm. Think.
Her magic buzzed under her skin, yearning for release, but the collar held her in check. Adan's breathing steadied, shallow but deliberate.
She was alone. Where was Nox? Was he okay?
The cold, sterile room felt like a tomb, and that unnerving light from the undine felt like the last flicker of hope in a world of darkness--Taunting her.
Her throat was raw, her head fuzzy, and she had no idea how long she'd been unconscious.
Adan's gaze sharpened as she turned her head slightly, examining the room.
The bed was simple, constructed from steel—nothing ornate, nothing fancy.
Just functional, just enough to trap her.
The walls were featureless, save for the single orb.
There was no door, no entryway. If there were guards, she couldn't hear them, and the silence felt like a weight pressing on her chest.
A low hiss escaped from her lips as she tested her restraints again.
Her eyes drifted back to the undine. It was watching her now, its small, round eyes glistening with odd intelligence. She wondered if the creature knew Lennox Hollow, if she might be able to find out where he was. But it was a foolish thought, she was no more free than Adan was.
Adan let her head rest against the cold metal of the bed, gathering her strength.
The quiet was shattered by the sound of boots on the cold stone floor.
Adan's head snapped up to where he suddenly stood--Darius.
His presence filled the room like a dark cloud, suffocating and relentless.
His gaze, cold and triumphant, met hers instantly, and a cruel smile curled at the edges of his lips.