Kael sighed, rubbing his temple as the tension eased a fraction. "It's fine. Just... remove the cuffs. And this black void thing you've made. All the light's gone. I feel like I'm in a cave."
"Mmm… okay."
And just like that, the shadows scattered, retreating like obedient tendrils uncoiling from the air.
The darkness peeled back like smoke clearing from his eyes, light filtering in gradually—soft, ambient glow from unseen sources.
Kael blinked, squinting as his vision adjusted—and realized he was lying on a bed.
A soft bed, the mattress yielding beneath him, warm sheets rumpled around his legs. A faint scent of perfume and something older, darker—like aged wood and faint smoke—clung to the pillows.
It was not his bed. Not the villa's sparse furnishings.
"…Where am I?" he asked, slowly sitting up, his muscles protesting the sudden movement.
Lital sat beside him, perched like a queen on her throne, one leg crossed elegantly over the other.
