Caspian's POV
The burning soup dripped down my face and chest.
Pain. Everywhere. My skin felt like it was on fire.
The nobles laughed. All of them. Their voices echoed through the dining hall like a hundred knives stabbing me at once.
"Clumsy hybrid," Lord Cassius said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You should be more careful around hot liquids."
I bit my tongue. Tasted blood. Couldn't speak. Couldn't move. The burns screamed across my skin.
"Well?" Cassius gestured impatiently. "Clean it up. You made a mess."
Made a mess. He poured soup on me and blamed me for the mess.
I knelt down. Started wiping the floor with my bare hands. The hot liquid stung my burned skin worse.
More laughter.
Through the pain and humiliation, I caught one person's eyes. Commander Darius. He stood by the door, jaw clenched, hands in fists. He looked ready to punch someone.
But he didn't move. Didn't help. Couldn't help without disobeying the Emperor's orders.
I was alone.
"Faster, hybrid," Cassius ordered. "My guests are waiting for dessert."
I cleaned faster. Ignored the pain. Ignored everything except the need to survive this moment.
Finally, Marcus appeared and dismissed me. I stumbled out of the dining hall. My chest and face throbbed. Burns covered my skin. I needed water. Medicine. Something.
"Pathetic."
I turned. Lady Morgana stood in the hallway, arms crossed. She was beautiful in the way poisonous flowers are beautiful. Deadly and cold.
"Did you enjoy your first day as a servant?" she asked sweetly.
"Please, I need medical attention—"
"Medical attention is for people who matter." She circled me like a predator. "You're not people. You're a mistake. A stain on the Velmora Dynasty."
"I'm Princess Selene's husband."
Morgana laughed. "Husband? Is that what you think? You're a political inconvenience she's too embarrassed to address." She leaned closer. "Selene regrets you. Everyone knows it. She won't even look at you anymore."
The words hurt worse than the burns.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because I want you to understand something important." Her smile turned vicious. "Nobody here is your friend. Not Selene. Not the servants. Not even the rats in the walls. You're going to suffer every single day until you finally break and leave."
"Then you'll be disappointed," I said quietly. "Because I'm not leaving."
"We'll see." She walked away, her laughter echoing down the hall.
I made it back to my room somehow. Collapsed on the bed. The burns hurt so badly I couldn't think straight.
A knock on the door.
"Go away," I called out.
The door opened anyway. A servant entered with a medical bag. She was old, with kind eyes.
"Let me see your burns," she said gently.
"The Emperor said—"
"The Emperor said servants can't help you. I'm helping you anyway." She started applying ointment to my chest. Cool relief spread across my skin. "That Cassius is a monster. Always has been."
"Why are you risking this?" I asked.
"Because someone has to." She worked quickly. "My grandson is a hybrid like you. Works in the stables. I know what it's like to be treated as less than human."
Her kindness made me want to cry. I hadn't cried since I was a child, but right now I wanted to.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Don't thank me yet. This is just medicine. It won't protect you from what's coming next." She finished bandaging my burns. "Lord Cassius is planning something worse. I heard him talking to other nobles. They want you gone before the week ends."
"How?"
"I don't know. But be careful. Trust no one." She stood to leave. "Except maybe Commander Darius. He's one of the few good ones left in this palace."
She left before I could ask what she meant.
The next three days were torture.
Every morning, Marcus assigned me the worst jobs. Cleaning toilets. Scrubbing stables. Carrying heavy loads until my arms shook.
The nobles took turns humiliating me. They "accidentally" tripped me. Spilled drinks on me. Gave me impossible tasks and punished me when I failed.
Lady Morgana was the worst. She found new ways to mock me every day.
"Fetch my shoes, hybrid."
"Polish the silverware. It's dull. Do it again."
"You missed a spot. Start over from the beginning."
And through it all, Selene never appeared. Never defended me. Never even acknowledged my existence.
I saw her once, walking through the gardens with her ladies. She laughed at something someone said. Looked happy. Free.
Like she'd forgotten I existed.
That hurt most of all.
On the fourth day, Lord Cassius summoned me again.
"I have a special task for you, hybrid," he said with that cruel smile. "The Emperor is hosting a banquet tonight. Very important guests. You'll serve at his table."
My stomach dropped. "The Emperor's table?"
"Yes. Don't worry. I'm sure you won't embarrass yourself too badly." His smile widened. "Or maybe you will. That would be entertaining."
That night, I stood behind Emperor Valorian's chair. My hands shook as I poured wine for the most powerful people in the empire.
Valorian didn't acknowledge me. Spoke to his guests like I wasn't there.
"The Dragon Empire grows bold," one guest said. "They're massing troops on our borders."
"Let them," Valorian replied calmly. "We have magic they can't match."
"But Your Majesty, if they attack—"
"They won't attack. They're testing us. Seeing if we're weak." Valorian's eyes flicked to me. "And we're not weak. Are we, hybrid?"
Everyone turned to stare at me.
"No, Your Majesty," I said quietly.
"Louder. Let everyone hear."
"No, Your Majesty!" I said louder.
The guests laughed. Not with me. At me.
"See?" Valorian smiled. "Even our servants have spirit. The Dragon Empire should be afraid."
More laughter. I was the joke. The entertainment. The proof that the Fairy Empire was strong because even their lowest servants pretended to be brave.
I poured more wine. Kept my head down. Survived another humiliation.
After the banquet ended, I cleaned up alone. The dining hall was empty. Dark. Quiet.
Footsteps behind me.
I turned. Commander Darius stood there, arms crossed. His expression was unreadable.
"You're tougher than you look," he said.
"I don't feel tough."
"Tough isn't about feeling. It's about not breaking when everyone wants you to." He stepped closer. "How long do you think you can keep this up?"
"As long as I have to."
"Wrong answer." Darius pulled out a practice sword from his belt. Tossed it to me. I caught it awkwardly. "The right answer is: until I learn to fight back."
"I don't understand."
"You're surviving. That's good. But survival isn't enough in this palace." His eyes were serious. "You need to be dangerous. Need to make people think twice before they mess with you."
"How?"
"I'll teach you." He headed toward the door. "Combat training. Every morning before dawn. Nobody will know. Nobody will see."
"Why would you help me?" I asked.
Darius paused. "Because I've watched you endure things that would break most men. Because you refused gold to stay loyal to someone who won't even defend you. Because you remind me of someone I used to be." He looked back at me. "And because Lord Cassius is planning something much worse than soup."
My blood ran cold. "What is he planning?"
"I don't know yet. But I have spies. They tell me Cassius meets with dangerous people late at night. People who specialize in making problems disappear." Darius's expression turned grim. "He wants you dead. Permanently. And he's willing to risk the Emperor's anger to make it happen."
"When?"
"Soon. Maybe days. Maybe hours." He gestured with the practice sword. "Which is why training starts at dawn. Don't be late. If you want to survive what's coming, you need to learn how to be more than just a servant who takes punishment."
He walked out, leaving me alone in the dark dining hall.
I looked down at the practice sword in my hands. It was heavier than I expected. Cold. Real.
Lord Cassius was planning to kill me. Not humiliate me. Not test me. Actually murder me.
And the only person offering to help was a commander who barely knew me.
Tomorrow at dawn, my real training would begin. Training to fight. To defend myself. To become something more than the palace punching bag.
But tonight, I had to survive. Had to make it through one more night knowing that somewhere in this palace, Cassius was planning my death.
I gripped the practice sword tighter.
Tomorrow, I would learn to fight.
Tonight, I just hoped I'd live long enough to see morning