Page 71 of Crowned In Venom

Mira is the first to break the silence.

"Did you see it?" she whispers, voice barely audible.

I nod.

Her fingers clench in the fabric of her apron.

"I—I shouldn’t have said anything," she mutters. "She’ll know I spoke to you."

Fear flares in her eyes again.

I press a hand over hers—gentle, but firm.

"You did the right thing," I say.

A lie.

The right thing would have been to stay silent. To pretend she did not see me, did not know what was coming.

Because now, I am not the only one in danger.

"You should go," I whisper.

Mira hesitates.

Then, with a quick nod, she disappears down the corridor, her form swallowed by the flickering torchlight.

I wait a moment longer.

The shadow in the corridor is gone.

It remains. It lingers like a touch, never fading.

I press a hand against the cold stone wall, steadying myself.

And then, slowly, I slip back into the dark.

23

VARKOS

Ibring her to the auction to sell her.

At least, that is what the Matriarch must believe.

If I keep her too long, she will die.

Not by my hand, but by hers.

This is the only way.

A public display, a spectacle—to make it seem as though I have tired of her, as though she is merely another piece of flesh in my collection.

I have no doubt she knows what this means.

And yet, she walks beside me, silent, unreadable.

There is no fear in her steps.

---