The Nomerci base reeked of iron and sweat. Torches glowed red, angled down on the stone floor like stage lights, making the center platform shine under firelight. The whole setup looked less like a dungeon and more like a sleazy stage built to humiliate.
Jenny was locked in place like she had been dragged into a live porn shoot.
Her wrists were cuffed above her head, chains pulling her arms taut so her blouse stretched across her chest. Her ankles were shackled wide apart to the floor, forcing her body open, her posture vulnerable, displayed. It was torture disguised as performance — the kind of degrading "show" you'd expect to stumble on in a porn scene meant to break someone's pride as much as their body.
Sweat slid down her stomach where the ripped blouse no longer covered, catching the red torchlight like oil. Blood ran from lashes across her back, mixing with the sweat until her skin glistened.
And Genny wanted it this way.
She sat on her throne, legs crossed, corset gleaming like a fetish model caught mid-photo. One nail tapped against the armrest in rhythm with Hussain's grin. He coiled his whip lazily, like a fight promoter stalling before the crowd's favorite knockout.
Jenny's voice was raw but steady. "Do your worst. I won't beg."
Hussain chuckled, drawing the whip back. "Begging's boring. Breaking sells."
The lash cracked.
Barbed leather slashed across her back. Jenny arched with a gasp, blouse sliding further down, one shoulder bare.
"Strong girl," Hussain said, voice dripping with amusement. "They always make the best shows. The longer they last, the better the finish." Another lash landed. Her blouse clung with sweat, nearly transparent. "But when they snap? That's the money shot."
"Enough," Genny ordered. Her tone was honey-slick. "She needs to listen."
Jenny panted, wrists straining in the cuffs, chains rattling loud like the soundtrack to a porn dungeon.
"You call yourself queen?" she spat blood. "You're nothing but a coward in heels."
Genny rose. Heels clicked sharp on stone, her stride deliberate, hips swaying like a runway star playing to cameras. She crouched before Jenny, tilting her chin with a finger. "And you're still a fool clinging to lies."
Jenny's chest pressed forward with the angle, her torn blouse falling lower. The prisoners chained along the walls couldn't look away. That was the point.
"Why run back to him? To Tim?" Genny's voice dropped lower.
Jenny's lips trembled. "Because he—"
Her twin's laugh cut sharp. "Because he what? Loved you? Protected you?" She leaned close, corset pressing against Jenny's bare chest, whispering at her ear. "He betrayed you. Long before this."
Jenny froze, sweat and tears mixing down her face.
Hussain snapped the whip in the air, loud as a camera flash. "Ooooh, I like this. Truth cuts deeper than steel."
Genny circled, moving like a performer on stage who knew every angle. "Don't you remember, sister? Back when you were his girlfriend. Back before he blacked out. Back when he promised you were the only one."
Jenny's eyes shook. "You're lying."
Genny crouched again, her corset straining, her lips brushing close. "I pretended to be you."
Jenny's head jerked up, horrified.
"And your precious Tim fucked me so hard," Genny whispered, "he never even knew it wasn't you."
Jenny's breath broke.
"He kissed me. Moaned your name. And not once did he notice. Not once."
Hussain laughed like a fan watching the KO replay. "Oh, that's savage. Poor girl got swapped out like a stunt double."
Jenny shook her head, chains rattling. "No… no…!"
Genny leaned closer, her body brushing Jenny's skin, accidental yet humiliatingly intimate. Her lips hovered a breath away. "That's your Tim. That's your hero. He couldn't even see the difference."
Jenny sagged against the chains. The fire in her eyes dimmed, tears flooding down.
And in the shadows, Casey watched.
Dressed like the other Nomerci courtesans — sheer silks, neckline low, body swaying in rhythm — she blended into the backdrop. But her eyes were sharp, burning. Every word was carved into her memory.
She clenched her fists, nails biting her palms. She didn't know if Genny's claim was truth or manipulation. But she saw the result. Jenny broke.
And if Tim ever heard this, it might break him too.