Page 7 of Crowned In Venom

I refuse to let them see weakness.

Finally, we reach the upper levels, where the nobles reside.

The doors we pass are grand, adorned with sigils marking which house each occupant belongs to.

I commit them to memory.

They will be useful later.

We reach a large set of double doors—not as ostentatious as the others, but somehow more menacing.

One of the guards smirks at me. A cruel, knowing thing.

“He will summon you when he wishes,” he says, leering slightly. “Try not to keep our lord waiting.”

I say nothing.

I step inside.

The doors close behind me.

And I exhale.

Not relief.

Never relief.

Just another breath, another moment where I am still standing.

I glance around the chamber—a smaller, private space compared to the main quarters.

And then—there it is.

The seam in the wall.

Faint, nearly imperceptible. But now that I know where to look, I can see it.

A hidden passage.

Not an escape. Not yet.

But a secret is a weapon.

And I collect weapons like breath.

I move to the window, pressing my fingers against the cold iron bars.

Beyond them, a prosperous city sprawls below—a city built on suffering, on chains and whispered screams.

I will not remain in this palace forever.

Varkos thinks he has caught me.

But he does not realize…

I am already undoing my chains.

4

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