Calvus exhaled once harshly his jaw tightening the sound almost like he was forcing his own anger back into his ribs
"Aurelia" he said her name low almost dangerous the weight of it curling around her like smoke "you cannot walk alone here"
She didn't flinch this time her chin lifting slightly her voice a thin blade
"And why should I walk with you"
"I'm the one you should trust" Calvus replied stepping closer as if he had any right to claim such a thing
She let out a breath halfway between disbelief and fury her fingers curling at her sides "And how am I supposed to believe that you didn't kill my brother or that you weren't the one who sent that man to kill my father"
Calvus burst into laughter, that cold humorless sound that made every hair on her arms rise because it didn't fit the moment didn't fit the pain she carried it felt cruel wrong something she hated deeply
"You're unbelievable" he muttered still fighting a ghost of a grin "He said a lot of things about you and you're exactly like he described"
Her breath hitched her entire body going still the world tilting just slightly as if someone had pulled the floor from beneath her
He Said A lot of things
About me.
Does he really know Gaius?
"I won't kill Gaius," Calvus stated firmly, pulling her deeper into the shadows of the golden hall. His grip on her wrist was steady, sending a jolt of awareness through her as her back met the cold wall. He leaned in closer, his voice low and smooth, "Gaius died. Tenebrarum killed him—"
Calvus closed the distance, half of his face lost in shadow. His tone dropped to a near whisper, yet it was unmistakably clear.
"Aurelia… listen carefully. If anyone hears this—especially him—I won't make it through the night."
She froze. The fear in his tone—whether real or staged—made her breath hitch.
"It wasn't an accident," he whispered. "Tenebrarum didn't just kill Gaius; he made an example of him."
Her pulse pounded painfully in her ears as her fingers curled into her dress.
Calvus continued, each word slower than the last, as if pushed through pain.
"He accused Gaius of betrayal—something small, something stupid. Gaius swore he hadn't done it, but Tenebrarum doesn't need proof. You know that; he only needs a reason."
Aurelia's knees buckled, the corridor tilting beneath her as though the stone itself wanted to swallow her. Her fingers dug into the wall, knuckles whitening, but it was no use—the ground felt like it had dissolved, leaving her weightless in a void of fear and rage.
Calvus's voice sliced through the silence, low, deliberate, breaking her in ways she hadn't realized were possible.
"He didn't let him beg, Aurelia," he said, and she could feel the tremor in his tone, the weight of each word designed to crush her. "He didn't let him speak. He broke him down in front of everyone. And when Gaius stopped fighting—when there was nothing left of him—Tenebrarum still wasn't satisfied. He said… he said humans should learn their place."
Her chest heaved. Her lungs felt too tight, as if each breath was being stolen by the words themselves.
Her hands flew to her face, pressing against her mouth, trying to stop the sobs that threatened to tear out.
"That… monster," she whispered, her voice breaking, raw and jagged, trembling with a fire she didn't know she had. "He did that… to my brother… for no obvious reason, like how he kill Felicia."
Calvus's eyes never left her, dark and unreadable, calculating every flicker of pain and rage.
The lies had landed with surgical precision, stabbing the spaces in her heart Tenebrarum had never touched, twisting her grief into something sharp and uncontrollable.
This is what Calvus wanted , her to hate Tenebrarum then love him.
The words burned into her chest, setting her veins alight, a heat that made her hands tremble, her vision swim, her teeth clench. She could feel her blood pounding in her temples, every heartbeat hammering with the hatred that now consumed her, unrelenting and feral.
Tears blurred her vision, hot and fast, but she didn't care. Her hands shook violently, her fists curling into tight balls, nails digging into her palms, as though the pain could anchor her sanity. Her mind screamed, a chaotic storm of grief and fury, threatening to devour her from the inside.
She didn't know if she was actually believing him, but the hatred? That was real. Every fiber of her being screamed that Tenebrarum was a monster.
Every trembling breath, every racing heartbeat made her want revenge, a fire she couldn't extinguish, a rage she couldn't ignore.
Aurelia forced herself to step out of the corner, straightening her shoulders though her chest still heaved with unspent rage.
She couldn't afford to crumble here—not today, not in front of the nobles and Tenebrarum's creatures. She needed to stand tall, to move like someone who belonged in this world of predators, even if her heart screamed otherwise.
Calvus didn't follow. His mission was done.
She felt a spark of relief—and something darker, anger to make Tenebrarum surfer.
Calvus had fed her lies, twisted her grief, and now, hatred for Tenebrarum burned hotter than ever in her veins.
She let her gaze drift over her own hands, bloodless but trembling, and whispered under her breath, bitter and furious, That monster… he deserves everything coming to him.
A soft rustle caught her attention. Sorana appeared, bowing low, her hands gesturing toward the hall. "Oh, my lady, I've been looking for you. Let's go in."
Aurelia took a slow breath, letting her anger harden into icy determination, and followed Sorana.
Every step toward the massive hall felt like walking into a storm, and yet she would not let it break her.
Not yet. Not until she understood everything, until Tenebrarum paid, and until her own power was her shield.
She was going to give Tenebrarum her best—every glance, every movement, every ounce of herself—and then take it all back.
He would think he owned her, think he had tamed her, but the fire inside her wouldn't be claimed so easily.
Every step she took toward the hall tightened her resolve, every breath a promise: she would bend, she would play the part, and then she would strike.
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To be continued...