Caspian's POV
Someone was shaking me awake.
"Get up, hybrid. The Emperor wants you."
I opened my eyes. Two guards stood over my bed. Dawn light filtered through the window. My arm screamed in pain where the assassin had cut me.
"Now," one guard growled.
They didn't let me change or clean up. Just dragged me from bed and through the palace halls. Other servants stared as we passed. Whispered. Pointed.
The new prince. Bleeding. Being hauled around like a criminal.
We stopped at a different room this time. Smaller. A private study filled with books and weapons on the walls. Emperor Valorian sat behind a desk, reading documents like nothing had happened last night.
"Ah, Caspian." He didn't look up. "Sit."
The guards shoved me into a chair. Left. Closed the door.
We were alone.
"How's your arm?" Valorian asked.
"It hurts."
"Good. Pain helps us remember our mistakes." He finally looked at me. "Your mistake was thinking you could play games in my palace and survive."
"I'm not playing games. I just want—"
"Let me make something very clear." Valorian set down his papers. "You are nothing. A hybrid street rat who got lucky. The only reason you're still breathing is because killing you would upset my daughter."
"Then why not let me leave?"
"Because leaving would also upset her." His smile was thin. "She made a foolish choice marrying you. But she made it publicly. If you disappear, she looks weak. And I can't have a weak heir."
"So I'm trapped here."
"Exactly." Valorian opened a drawer. Pulled out a small chest. "But I'm not unreasonable. I'm giving you one final chance to walk away with your life and your dignity."
He opened the chest. Gold coins glittered inside. More gold than I'd ever seen.
"Ten million gold coins," Valorian said. "Take it. Leave tonight. I'll tell everyone the marriage was annulled due to... technical issues. You'll be rich. Free. Alive."
I stared at the gold. It was real. All of it real.
"Why?" I asked. "Why offer me money if you want me gone anyway?"
"Because I prefer clean solutions." Valorian's fingers drummed the desk. "You leave quietly, everyone saves face, no one gets hurt. Much better than the alternative."
"What's the alternative?"
"You stay. And I break you." He said it casually. Like he was discussing dinner plans. "I'll make every day a nightmare. Humiliate you in front of the court. Give you the worst jobs in the palace. Let the nobles mock you until you beg to leave."
"That's cruel."
"That's politics." Valorian leaned forward. "I need to know if you can survive in this world, Caspian. If you're strong enough to stand beside my daughter when real threats come. So either take the money and prove you're smart, or stay and prove you're strong."
My hand moved toward the gold. So much money. So much freedom.
But I thought about Selene's face when she talked about Lord Cassius. The fear. The desperation.
If I left, would her father force her to marry Cassius anyway? Would she be trapped with a monster because I chose gold over loyalty?
"I'm staying," I said.
Valorian's expression didn't change. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Even knowing what I'll do to you?"
"Even knowing."
Valorian closed the chest slowly. "You're either the bravest fool I've ever met or the stupidest. I haven't decided which."
"Maybe both."
"Definitely both." He stood. Walked to the window. "Very well. You've made your choice. Now live with it."
"What happens now?"
"Now?" Valorian turned back to me. "Now the real test begins. You survived assassins through luck and instinct. But can you survive something worse?"
"Worse than assassination?"
"Much worse." His smile returned. That terrible, cold smile. "Can you survive being nobody? Being less than servants? Being the palace joke that everyone laughs at?"
My stomach dropped. "What are you saying?"
"Starting today, you have no rank. No title. No respect." Valorian walked closer. "You'll serve at meals. Clean floors. Do whatever tasks the nobles assign you. And you'll do it with a smile."
"You're making me a servant?"
"I'm making you earn your place." He stopped in front of me. "Prove you can endure humiliation without breaking. Prove you're worthy of my daughter. Or prove I was right to want you gone."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you're proving you're weak. And weak things don't survive in this palace." Valorian pulled out a bell. Rang it once.
The doors opened. A servant entered. Old. Stern-faced.
"This is Marcus, the head of palace staff," Valorian said. "He'll assign your duties. You'll obey him as you would obey me. Any complaints?"
I had a thousand complaints. But voicing them would only make things worse.
"No, Your Majesty."
"Good." Valorian returned to his desk. "One more thing, Caspian. Selene won't defend you. I've forbidden her from interfering with your... employment. If she tries to help you, I'll make things worse for both of you."
"You're keeping her away from me."
"I'm teaching you both valuable lessons." He picked up his papers again. "Now get out. You start work immediately."
Marcus grabbed my good arm. Led me from the room. My wounded arm throbbed with every step.
"You'll address all nobles as 'my lord' or 'my lady,'" Marcus said as we walked. "You'll keep your eyes down. You'll speak only when spoken to. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Yes, sir," Marcus corrected sharply.
"Yes, sir."
We stopped at a supply closet. Marcus handed me a bucket and a brush.
"The Grand Hall needs cleaning before breakfast. On your knees. Make it shine." He looked at my bloody sleeve. "And try not to bleed on the floor. Blood stains are difficult to remove."
I took the bucket and brush. Stood there holding them. Yesterday I was married to a princess. Today I was scrubbing floors.
"Move," Marcus ordered.
I moved.
The Grand Hall was massive. Marble floors stretching forever. I knelt down. Started scrubbing. My wounded arm screamed protest. Blood seeped through my sleeve.
Keep going. Just keep going.
Footsteps echoed. Nobles were arriving for breakfast. They stopped when they saw me.
"Is that..."
"The hybrid prince!"
"On his knees scrubbing floors?"
Laughter. So much laughter.
I kept scrubbing. Eyes down. Jaw clenched.
More nobles arrived. The crowd grew. Their mockery got louder.
"Look at the princess's husband!"
"What a joke!"
"She married a servant!"
Someone kicked my bucket. Water spilled everywhere. Soaked my clothes. The nobles laughed harder.
I started again. Re-filled the bucket. Kept scrubbing.
Through the crowd, I saw her. Selene. Standing in the doorway. Watching.
Our eyes met. For a moment, I thought she'd say something. Do something.
Instead, she turned and walked away.
The crowd's laughter followed her out.
I was alone. Kneeling in water. Bleeding. Humiliated.
And this was only day one.
The Emperor had promised to break me. To test me. To see if I could survive being nothing.
I understood now. This wasn't about cleaning floors. This was about destroying my spirit. My pride. Everything that made me who I was.
He wanted me to quit. To beg for that gold and run away.
But I wouldn't. Couldn't.
Because somewhere in this palace, Selene needed me. Even if she couldn't show it. Even if she had to pretend I didn't matter.
I kept scrubbing.
Hours passed. Nobles came and went. Each one had a new insult. A new way to make me feel small.
Finally, Marcus appeared. "Enough. You have new orders."
"What orders?"
"Lord Cassius requires a servant for tonight's dinner." Marcus's expression was unreadable. "He specifically requested you."
My blood ran cold. Lord Cassius. The man who wanted to marry Selene. Who saw me as a threat.
"What does he want me to do?" I asked.
"Serve his table. Pour his wine. Stand quietly while he dines with important guests." Marcus paused. "And whatever else he commands."
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
"Do I have a choice?"
"No."
That night, I stood behind Lord Cassius's chair in the private dining hall. He sat with other nobles. Important people. Powerful people.
And me. The hybrid servant. Standing silent. Invisible.
"More wine," Cassius ordered without looking at me.
I poured. My hands shook slightly. The wound on my arm had stopped bleeding but hurt terribly.
"Careful, hybrid," Cassius said loudly. "That wine costs more than your entire pathetic life."
The nobles laughed.
I kept pouring. Steady. Controlled.
Cassius watched me. Waited. Testing.
"Tell me," he said to his guests. "Have you heard about my dear niece's new husband? Quite the scandal."
"I heard he's a nobody," one noble said. "From the Shadow District."
"Worse than a nobody." Cassius's voice dripped poison. "A hybrid who tricked his way into the palace. Who thought marrying a princess would make him important."
He turned to look at me directly. His smile was cruel.
"But here he is. Serving my dinner like the servant he truly is." Cassius lifted his bowl of soup. Hot. Steaming. "Isn't that right, hybrid?"
"Yes, my lord," I said quietly.
"Louder. I want everyone to hear."
"Yes, my lord."
"Good." Cassius's smile widened. "Now let me teach you an important lesson about your place in—"
He tipped the bowl. Burning soup splashed across my chest and face.
Pain erupted everywhere. I gasped. Stumbled back. The hot liquid scalded my skin.
The nobles erupted in laughter.
"Oops," Cassius said, not bothering to hide his satisfaction. "How clumsy of me. Are you hurt, hybrid?"
Through the pain and humiliation, I saw one face that wasn't laughing.
Commander Darius stood by the door. Watching. His expression was dark. Angry.
Our eyes met.
And I saw something that gave me the first spark of hope since this nightmare began.
Someone saw what was happening. Someone didn't think it was funny.
Someone might actually help me survive this hell