36. Chapter 36
UNKNOWN
Containment state active. Iron restraints at wrists.
Ankles. Throat.Chain tension calibrated for immobilization, not execution.
Subterranean cell. Stone. Cold. Damp.No ingress points within reach.No exit vectors.I do not attempt movement.Motion would be inefficient.Pain persists.Residual feedback from the last engagement remains unresolved.
Neural interference. Muscular latency. Strike deviation recorded.
Repeated.Failure.The door opened.Footsteps entered the chamber.
Unhurried. Measured.No guards followed.The King.He did not look like a threat.
No raised voice. No visible magic. His presence altered the space regardless.
Pressure increased. Air density shifted.
“I gave you a simple command,” he said calmly.
“Eliminate the threat.”No response logged.
“You had her at blade-point,” he continued.
“The optimal position. The engagement window was clean.” A pause.
“And yet—you froze.”Incorrect.Correction withheld.The King stepped closer.
His fingers brushed the command rune carved over my Mark.My Ember-Vow Mark ignited.Pain detonated outward, white-hot, absolute.
Muscles seized. Breath aborted. Vision fragmented.
I did not scream. Sound would serve no purpose.
“It wasn’t incompetence,” the King said thoughtfully.
“It was resistance.”He withdrew his hand.
The pain receded to a sustained burn.“The conditioning was absolute,” he went on.
“Your Ember-Vow Mark allows fulfillment under any circumstance. No interruption. No deviation.”He circled me slowly.
“There is only one viable reason you were able to deviate,” he said.
He stopped in front of me.“The First Vow.”His gaze sharpened.
“The First Vow of those with Ember-Vow is unbreakable.” He paced in front of me.
“Even future vows cannot override it.”Another pause.
He stopped and pinned me with his glare.
“What was your First Vow?”No response issued.The King exhaled softly.
Disappointment, not anger.Then the strike came.The King’s fist connected with my face.
Bone shifted. Vision flared white. My head snapped sideways, the force ripping a metallic shriek from the chains as they arrested the motion.
Stone met my cheek.Pain registered. Severe.Systems stalled.
Recovery delayed.“TELL ME,” the King commanded.His words ignited the Command rune and it flared white hot in my chest. “Tell me your First Vow.” Deadly soft.
The answer forced itself out.“To protect my sister,” I said.The words scraped raw on their way free.
“And keep her safe…”A fracture.“At all costs.”Silence followed.The King did not speak at once.When he did, his voice was very quiet.
“…Your sister.”He stepped back.The restraints tightened.Containment reinforced.The door closed.Darkness resumed.