Page 62 of Crowned In Venom

"You are not so different."

And gods, he was right.

Because when I held the whip, when I struck the man?—

I felt it.

I felt something.

Not just horror.

Not just guilt.

Something darker.

Something that twisted inside me in ways I do not want to name.

It was not pleasure. No.

It was power.

And it terrifies me.

Because for a single moment, I understood.

I understood why Varkos wields pain like a weapon.

Because when you are the one holding the whip, when you are the one watching another break?—

You are the one who cannot be broken.

A sharp knock at my door sends my heart slamming against my ribs.

I do not answer.

I do not move.

For a moment, I pretend I am not here.

That I do not exist in this place, in this skin that suddenly feels foreign, unfamiliar.

But the knock comes again.

This time, the door opens.

I jerk upward, instinct kicking in, reaching for the dagger hidden beneath my pillow.

But it is only a servant.

One of the younger ones, her eyes wide, fearful.

She hesitates in the doorway, as if she knows she should not have come.

But then, softly?—

"My lady, Lord Varkos requests your presence."

I laugh.

---