Chapter 7
Ethan sat on the cold stone, hands bound before him, eyes fixed on the iron door. He felt the vibration of footsteps.
When the iron door opened, light poured into the cell.
She stepped through.
Captain Seris Valen. Her hair, the same copper hue, was tied back in a severe braid. The scar that cut across her jaw made her beauty look dangerous, the kind that came with a warning. Her gaze locked on him, and the hatred there was so intense it almost felt personal.
Ethan's mind sharpened instantly. So this was the sister. The one he had to win over.
"Liora Valen," she said, her tone laced with disdain. "The fallen jewel of the court. I never thought I would see you again, except in a coffin."
Ethan lifted his head slowly, meeting her eyes. "And yet, here I am."
The corner of her mouth twitched, not quite a smile. "For now."
She paced closer, each movement crisp and controlled. The metal of her armor clinked softly. "Do you know why they sent me, Liora?"
"Because you hate me enough to enjoy it?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Because I asked for it."
Ethan kept his expression calm, but inside, his instincts coiled tight. "Then by all means, Captain. Fulfill your grudge. But if you wanted me dead, you could have done it already. So why are you here?"
Seris stopped before him, her shadow swallowing the space between them. "Because the Empress believes pain is more instructive when delivered by familiar hands."
He almost smiled. "How poetic."
She tilted her head slightly. "Still as proud as ever." Her voice softened, but it was the softness of a blade before it slides in. "Tell me, Liora, do you remember my brother?"
The name that followed struck through his mind like lightning. "Alaric."
Seris's jaw clenched. "Do not speak his name."
Ethan watched her closely, noting the tremor of emotion in her hand before she hid it behind discipline. "He loved you," she said. "He defended you when everyone else saw your deceit. And you repaid him with betrayal."
He could feel Liora's memories stirring again, those half-formed flashes of a man's face… soft brown eyes, a laughter in candlelight, and the ring that had been snapped in two.
"Alaric's death was not my doing," Ethan said quietly.
"Liar." Seris struck him across the face before the word had fully left his mouth, and his head snapped to the side.
He tasted blood.
Ethan swallowed it, forcing calm back into his voice. "You think pain will make me confess to something I didn't do?"
Seris leaned down, her eyes level with his. "Confession is a kindness. I only need you to remember what you cost us."
Her breath was steady, but her voice carried the weight of grief buried beneath all that fury.
Ethan's mind raced. The System's words echoed faintly in his head. Gain her trust.
He straightened a little, ignoring the sting on his cheek. "You think you know what I am, Captain, but you see only what the court wanted you to see. The weak, vain woman they painted as a traitor. You want the truth? I was their scapegoat."
Her gaze hardened. "You expect me to believe the woman who sold our battle plans to the Borderland Lords?"
He leaned forward slightly. "Ask yourself, who gained from it? Not me. Not House Valen. The Empress needed someone to blame. She chose the one she could humiliate publicly."
Seris's hand twitched again, but she did not speak.
Ethan pressed on, sensing the faintest crack in her composure. "If I had truly done it, would I still be alive? The Empress could have killed me years ago, yet here I am, rotting in a tower, paraded like a warning. Does that sound like justice to you, Captain?"
She stared at him for a long moment. "Justice is not yours to define."
"Maybe not," he said softly. "But it used to be yours. Before they took it away."
Her eyes flickered, just briefly. "Do not test me."
"Maybe you should test yourself." His voice dropped to a whisper. "You served her faithfully. You lost your brother for her cause. And what did she give you in return? Chains made of duty."
Seris slammed her fist into the wall beside his head. The stone cracked. Dust fell between them.
"Enough!" she snapped. "Do not presume to understand me."
Ethan met her glare without flinching. "You're right. I don't. But I can see it in your eyes. You hate me, yes, but you also hate what you've become because of them."
Her breathing quickened. For the briefest instant, something raw and unguarded flickered in her face… and then it was gone as quickly as it came.
She stepped back. "You speak like a viper. Always twisting words."
"Sometimes words are all that's left when everything else has been taken."
Her hand shot forward, gripping his chin roughly, forcing him to look up at her. "You always had a silver tongue, Liora. It fooled Alaric. It will not fool me."
He stared back at her, violet eyes steady. "Then kill me now, Captain. If that's what you came for."
She hesitated. The command in her posture faltered for half a heartbeat. Then she shoved him back hard. "No. Death is too easy for you."
Ethan exhaled slowly, forcing himself to think even as his heart pounded. "Then what will you do?"
Seris turned away, and moved toward the door. "I will make sure you survive long enough to regret every breath you take. The Empress wants you broken, and I intend to deliver."
He called after her, his voice sharp. "You think breaking me will bring your brother back?"
She froze at the threshold, her shoulders tense. For a moment, she did not turn.
"No," she said finally, her tone low and heavy. "But it might help me forget that I ever believed in you."
He leaned his head back against the wall, breathing hard. His jaw throbbed where she had struck him, but his mind was already spinning.
She hated him, yes. But she had listened. And that was a beginning.
The mirrors in the room flickered faintly, reflecting his bruised face from a dozen angles.
"System," he whispered, tasting iron. "I think I've found my opening."
The cell door slammed behind Seris. Ethan stayed still.
He tilted his head, watching the faint shimmer ripple across the mirror walls. The reflections moved just a heartbeat too late… as if even they were waiting to see what he would do next.
A faint chime broke the silence.
[Progress: 5% trust earned. Keep going.]
Ethan laughed under his breath, low and rasped. "Five percent," he repeated softly. "That's all it takes to start a war." then remembered himself, and cleared his throat, "I mean, start a friendship. You know, win someone over."
The System's light faded, leaving him alone once again in the dim, mirror-lit cell.
He rose to his feet slowly, testing his bound wrists against the chain. It rattled but held firm. "She's disciplined," he murmured, thinking aloud. "But not unbreakable. Anger clouds judgment, and she has too much of it."
His reflection grinned back at him, a ghost of the soldier he had once been, now trapped in a woman's form that carried a history he didn't write.
He walked toward the nearest mirror and pressed his palm against it. It was cold. Behind the glass, he swore he saw flickers of faces… Alaric's eyes, Seris's glare, and the Empress's unreadable smile.
"Five days," he whispered to himself. "Five days to turn enemies into allies."
A drop of blood hit the floor.
He smirked. "And it starts with her."
Outside, beyond the thick walls, he heard the clang of the tower's outer gate, the call of soldiers changing shifts. The world kept moving, uncaring. But in that still cell, something had shifted.
His mind replayed Seris's expression before she left: the brief flicker of hesitation in her eyes. It wasn't victory yet.
He leaned back against the wall, exhaustion heavy in his limbs, but his smile never faded. "You'll come back," he muttered, voice low, confident, almost amused. "They always do."
The mirrors around him shivered faintly, as if laughing with him.
The game had begun.