The dungeon walls were damp with cold. No light. No sound. Just the scrape of chains against stone and the echo of Lilith’s breathing.
She’d stopped screaming hours ago.
No one had come. No one had spoken to her of what would come next. And now the silence felt like a verdict.
She sat on the ground, wrists raw where the irons bit into her skin, eyes open but empty. For the first time in her life, she thought she might die here. Just a footnote in a kingdom that never truly saw her.
When the footsteps came, she didn’t bother looking up. She expected guards. A blade. The King’s justice, swift and silent.
But it wasn’t a guard, it was the Lycan King.
He stopped just outside the cell, his cloak unmoved by the chill. His face was unreadable, gaze sharp as ever.
“Get up,” he said.
Lilith didn’t move. He nodded to the guards. They opened the door, and rough hands dragged her to her feet. Her knees wobbled. She blinked hard.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked, voice raw.
Maeron stepped inside the cell, eyes scanning her from head to toe. “I should.”
She didn’t flinch.
“But I don’t waste good pieces,” he added, softer now. “Even broken ones.”
Lilith’s breath caught.
“You hate her,” he said, pacing slowly. “Not just because of what she has. But because no matter how hard you fight, no matter how many men you seduce or poison you pour—she still wins. And you don’t understand why.”
“I could be better,” Lilith rasped, her voice low and worn thin. “I should’ve been.”
Maeron didn’t blink. His answer came without pause, flat and final. “But you weren’t. You’re clever, ruthless, but you’re not untouchable.”
She lifted her head to look at him, eyes ringed in shadow, her expression stripped of pride. “So what now?”
He watched her in silence, eyes narrowed, weighing her not with emotion, but with cold calculation. She had value, but only if she could still be controlled. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, even. There was no kindness in it.
“You want this buried? You want to leave this cell with your name still sharp enough to scare people? Then you’re going to give me something in return.”
Lilith leaned forward, the clink of her chains loud in the stillness. “Anything,” she breathed. The desperation in her voice wasn’t hidden. She didn’t have the strength to hide it anymore.
Maeron’s mouth curved into a smile, but there was no warmth in it.
“You’re going to play your part. You’ll stand in court and pretend nothing has changed. You’ll look loyal. Sound loyal. And when I call on you again, you won’t hesitate.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Yes, I understand. I’ll do it.”
“No,” he said, his tone sharpening. “You won’t hesitate.”
She nodded again, more firmly this time, the chains biting into her wrists.
Maeron stepped closer. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. His words cut all the same.
“You may still be useful, Lilith. But understand this—if you cross me again, you won’t die in chains.”
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“You’ll die forgotten.”
Then he turned and walked away, leaving her in the dark, her name already beginning to fade.