Chapter 16: Good Morning

Nyx woke to the dull ache of her own body.

For a moment she did not understand where she was. The sheets were unfamiliar. The light filtering through the high window was the pale, tired grey of early morning. Then the smell reached her—sweat, sex, and the faint metallic trace of another woman’s saliva still drying on her skin.

She sat up.

She was completely naked. The seals that had held her wrists and ankles were gone. There was no one else in the room. Thalira’s side of the bed was empty, the impression of her body already cold.

Nyx’s breath caught.

Everything came back at once: the bindings, the commander’s mouth between her legs, the forced orgasm, the way she had trembled and cried while Thalira licked her through it. The memory was not soft. It was sharp, wet, and humiliating.

“It wasn’t a dream…”

The words left her in a broken whisper. She said them again, louder, as if repetition might change the truth.

“It wasn’t a dream… it wasn’t a dream…”

A raw, ugly sound tore out of her throat. She curled forward, arms wrapping around her naked body, and cried—silent at first, then with small, choking gasps she could not fully smother. Tears ran hot down her face and dripped onto her bare thighs. Her cunt still felt tender. The skin of her inner thighs carried faint bite marks. The evidence was everywhere.

She forced herself to move.

Hands shaking, she gathered the scattered pieces of her clothing from the floor and dressed as quickly as she could. She did not bother with the outer robe properly. She only wanted walls between herself and this room. The corridor outside was empty. She walked fast, head down, and did not stop until the door of her own chambers closed behind her.

Only then did she let herself sink to the floor, back against the wood, and cry without restraint.

—

In the dining hall, the floating crystals had already shifted to pale morning light.

Queen Lilith sat at the head of the long blackwood table, crimson hair loosely bound, expression calm. Elara occupied the place at her left, still in the modest charcoal dress, eating with mechanical precision. Commander Thalira stood near the wall in her usual position, silver braid perfect, grey eyes fixed on nothing.

Lilith set down her goblet.

“Where is my sister?”

Thalira stepped forward at once. “My Queen. Lady Nyx does not feel well this morning. She requested to remain in her chambers.”

Lilith’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly. “Again? Must I endure her tantrums every other day?” She exhaled through her nose, then turned her gaze to Elara. “You. Prepare yourself for tonight. I will not be patient any longer.”

Elara’s hand froze mid-motion. The silver fork slipped from her fingers and clattered against the blackwood table, then fell to the floor with a sharp metallic ring.

“My fork fell,” she said quietly, not looking up.

Lilith’s lips curved in something too cold to be a smile. “Commander. Fetch it.”

Thalira did not move.

The silence stretched. A muscle jumped in the commander’s jaw. Her grey eyes had gone almost black. For a long heartbeat she stood frozen, as if the order itself had struck her like a physical blow.

“Commander,” Lilith repeated, voice soft but edged with iron. “Do not make me say it twice. Bring her the fork.”

Thalira’s throat worked. “…As you command.”

She crossed the hall with rigid steps, bent, and picked up the fallen utensil. When she placed it beside Elara’s plate, her hand was not entirely steady. The motion was too sharp, too abrupt—almost a slam.

Elara looked at the fork, then at Thalira, then back at the fork.

“It’s dirty now,” she said, voice flat. “A dog should know better than to pick a bone off the floor and expect its mistress to use it again. It should have brought a clean one.” Her blue eyes lifted to Lilith. “You haven’t trained this obsessed little creature very well.”

Thalira’s entire body went rigid. Her teeth clenched so hard the sound was faintly audible. Power flickered dangerously around her fists.

Lilith’s voice cracked through the hall like a whip.

“Thalira. Step back.”

The commander did not move. Her grey eyes were locked on Elara with pure, murderous hatred.

“I said step back.”

Still nothing.

Lilith’s power surged. The air itself seemed to thicken.

“Step back!”

The command rang with enough force to make the floating lights tremble. Only then did Thalira force herself to retreat, step by heavy step, until she stood once more against the wall. Her breathing was uneven. Her hands were clenched so tightly the leather of her gloves creaked.

Lilith turned her full attention to Elara. The amusement was gone.

“So this is how you choose to play. You cannot strike at me, so you turn your teeth on my servants. You hide behind the immunity I granted you and think yourself clever.” She leaned forward slightly. “I am aware your mother sold you. I am aware you find the weight of it unbearable and now seek to vent that pain wherever you can. But understand this, little hero: your mother did you a kindness. She chose to place you under one woman’s claim rather than let you become meat for every man who still draws breath among your kind. You should thank her for sparing you that particular degradation.”

Elara’s face had gone white. For a second she only stared. Then her hand closed around the fork again.

She hurled it.

The silver utensil flew straight at Lilith’s face. In the same motion Elara shoved her chair back and lunged across the table, eyes blazing, voice cracking into a raw scream.

“You whore—you bitch—I’ll kill you—!”

Lilith did not even rise. Dark power snapped outward like a closing fist. Elara’s body locked mid-lunge. Her limbs froze in place, mouth still open around the unfinished threat. Only her eyes could move—wide, furious, and helpless.

Lilith regarded her for a long moment, then flicked two fingers.

“Guards.”

Two armored figures stepped from the shadows at once.

“Return her to her chamber. Lock it. She is not to be released until I send for her.”

They took Elara by the arms. The magical restraint held until the doors closed behind them.

Silence settled again.

Lilith picked up her goblet, drank, then spoke without looking at Thalira.

“How many of the women below are currently with child?”

Thalira’s voice was still tight, but controlled. “My Queen. The numbers are stable, yet insufficient. Most of the stock dies after the fifth birth. The attrition is constant.”

“Then acquire more.”

“We are doing so. However, the human territories have grown sparse. The treaty forbids further raids, and our dark-elf allies have grown strong enough that they no longer fear pressure. If it please you, we could open a limited campaign against the white elves. Their women are… suitable.”

Lilith set the goblet down.

“Later. We will speak of it later.”

She rose. Without another word she left the hall and ascended toward the private wing.

—

Nyx’s door did not open at the first knock.

Lilith waited three heartbeats, then pressed her palm to the wood. The lock yielded. She stepped inside.

Nyx was on the bed, half-curled on her side, still in the clothes she had thrown on in haste. Her black hair was a tangled mess. Her eyes were swollen and red. The moment she saw her sister she turned her face into the pillow.

“Leave. I don’t want to talk.”

Lilith closed the door behind her.

“Turn around.”

“No.”

“I told you to turn around.” The words were quiet, but the threat beneath them was unmistakable. “Or would you prefer to pay the price for disrespect as well?”

Slowly, reluctantly, Nyx rolled onto her back. She did not meet Lilith’s eyes.

Lilith studied her for a long moment—the swollen lids, the tear tracks, the way her hands clenched in the sheets.

“I have never once seen you cry,” she said. “Not in all the years since you were a child. Why now?”

Nyx’s throat worked. When she spoke, her voice was rough and thin.

“I’m weak. Disgracefully weak. I am your sister, and yet I am… this. A joke.”

Lilith’s brow furrowed slightly.

“That is why you are crying? Because you suddenly decided you lack power?”

“Yes.” Nyx’s answer came too quickly. “Please. Just leave me alone.”

Lilith remained still for several seconds longer, crimson eyes searching her sister’s face for something that refused to surface. At last she exhaled through her nose, turned, and walked out.

The door closed with a soft, final sound.

Nyx waited until the footsteps had fully faded. Only then did she curl onto her side again, pressing both hands over her mouth, and let the tears come without sound.