Auren stepped closer. His expression was unreadable, but in his chest, something old and venomous coiled tighter.
With a single thought, the Mental Bind snapped into place. The air seemed to thicken, pressing down on the room. Caius's eyes shot open—so did hers—but neither could move so much as a finger.
"You'll both listen," Auren said, his voice low, vibrating with quiet violence.
The Obedience Seal flared into being, unseen but absolute. He planted it deep in their minds—each pulse a reminder that their bodies now answered to his voice alone.
Caius strained against the invisible weight, jaw tight, nostrils flaring.
"Boy… what—"
"Don't speak unless I say so," Auren interrupted, and Caius's words died instantly, throat locking under the seal's command.
Auren paced at the foot of the bed, eyes locked on the man. "I could crush your mind right now. Break you so you forget your own name. But no… you're going to feel everything. Every second. Because I'm not here for an easy kill."
The woman's eyes darted wildly between them, terror flooding her features.
Auren leaned forward, placing his hands on the bedframe.
"You took my mother's life apart. Left her in the dirt. Now I'm here to return the gift."
---
Auren didn't drag Caius out of the room.
He forced him.
A flick of his fingers and the Mental Bind tightened—Caius's body rose from the bed like a puppet on invisible strings. His eyes blazed with rage, but his movements belonged entirely to Auren now. The woman whimpered as she was pulled along beside him, her feet scraping against the floor.
The three of them entered the sitting room where Riven and Lyara waited.
Riven's gaze flickered between Auren's expression and the helpless, suspended form of Caius. He said nothing—he'd promised not to interfere—but the air felt like it was vibrating with restrained violence.
Auren let Caius drop into a chair across from him, the Obedience Seal keeping him frozen in place.
"You know," Auren began, voice quiet, almost conversational, "I used to imagine this moment when I was a boy. I'd picture what I'd say. How I'd make you regret breathing. But standing here… it's simpler than I thought."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small dagger—black steel, the edge polished like glass. He let it roll slowly across the table toward Caius until it stopped just out of reach.
"You can't touch it," Auren said softly. "But you can look at it. And while you do, I want you to remember every time you could have done something for her. Every night she cried because of you. Every morning she woke up still trapped in the ruin you made."
Caius's jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring.
"She was weak," he spat, though the words shook with the effort of forcing them past the seal.
Auren's expression shifted—calm composure cracking like glass under a hammer. His voice dropped to a razor's edge.
"How… dare you cut my words?"
The Mental Bind pulsed.
Caius's eyes widened as his own arm twitched, then lifted without his will—like a marionette's limb jerked by an unseen string. His hand drifted toward his face, fingers shaking violently. His mouth opened against his control, jaw prying wider, and his tongue slid forward, trembling in the cold air.
"Let's see how strong your words are… without this," Auren hissed.
Caius's hand clamped around his own tongue. His knuckles whitened as the grip tightened. Flesh compressed, the muscle trembling, and then—pressure. Sharp, searing pain tore through him as his own fingers pressed down hard enough for skin to split. Blood welled, warm and metallic, spilling between his teeth.
The muffled scream that followed wasn't the roar of a proud man—it was a wet, broken sound.
Riven grimaced, looking away. Lyara didn't. She watched with cold eyes, as if witnessing justice take root.
Riven, seated on the sofa, turned pale. He had seen torture before, but not like this. Not so personal, so surgical in its cruelty. Without a word, he rose and walked out, the slam of the door echoing in the silence.
Auren leaned forward slowly, resting his elbows on his knees, speaking in a voice calm enough to be terrifying.
"That's lesson one. Speak when I allow you. Think when I allow you. Breathe… when I allow you."
He snapped his fingers and released the bind just enough for Caius's hand to fall away, crimson dripping down his chin. The older man gasped, chest heaving, but he couldn't stop staring at Auren like he was staring at something inhuman.
"This was just a warning," Auren said, almost kindly. "The real pain… is still coming."
He let the Mental Bind guide Caius's body into kneeling lower, forcing him to bow like a supplicant before his own son. "You will beg me before the end… and I will decide whether you are worth killing—or worse, leaving alive to drown in shame."
Caius's muffled whimper was the only sound in the house.
Auren's gaze shifted from Caius to the woman standing beside him — the younger wife, her skin bare, her breathing sharp and shallow under his unyielding control.
A slow smile crept across his face, though there was no warmth in it. "So this… this is what you chose over my mother," he said, his voice low and venomous. "You threw her away, left Selene to rot in her grief, all for this prize."
Caius strained against the invisible bonds, veins standing out in his neck, but the magic held him still.
Auren stepped closer, his presence suffocating, circling the woman as though she were nothing more than a specimen to be examined. He let the back of his hand hover just above her shoulder — not touching — but close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him. Her eyes darted in panic, but her body remained frozen, trapped in his spell.
"I could make her kneel," Auren murmured, tilting his head toward Caius. "I could make her bow to me while you watch, powerless. And the worst part? You'd know you handed her over the moment you betrayed my mother."
He moved around to face Caius again, the woman still locked in place beside them. "This isn't about her body, Father. This is about stripping from you everything you think you own. Even the air she breathes is mine now."
Caius's jaw worked furiously, but no sound came out. The humiliation was etched deep into his features. Auren simply stood there, letting the silence dig deeper than any blade.
She is now my cum-dump.
What's your name you sexy lady. He asked
My Name is Velora , your any time sex toy my master.