Page 99 of Warlord's Plaything

"Still delusional. Still clinging to power like a dying dog snapping at scraps."He crouches, studying me like one might study a caged beast."You think she’ll come for you?"

The words hit harder than I expect.

A flicker of something I can’t name claws at my ribs.

No.

I won’t give him this.

I won’t let him dig under my skin.

"I don’t need her to."My voice is steady. Even.

Lies taste like steel on my tongue.

Kaelith tilts his head, eyes sharp.

"Interesting."He exhales a soft laugh, shaking his head."You almost had me convinced. Almost. But we both know better, don’t we?"He leans closer, voice dropping to a whisper."You think I don’t see it? The way you looked at her?"

My muscles coil.

"The way you wanted her, even when you shouldn’t have?"

I clench my jaw. Say nothing.

Kaelith smiles, slow and knowing.

"The way she left you."

I snap the chains.

Or I try to.

The enchanted steel burns hotter, sending searing pain ripping through my arms.

I grit my teeth, refusing to make a sound, refusing to let him see the agony curling in my blood.

But Kaelith sees.

He always sees.

And he fucking laughs.

"There it is."He steps back, clasping his hands behind his back."The truth."

I force my breathing to steady.

I won’t let him win.

But the truth is a rotting wound in my gut.

She ran.

She fucking ran.

And maybe that’s what cuts the deepest.

Not the chains. Not the betrayal.

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