Virelya didn’t remember falling asleep. She remembered the storm intensifying outside the wind howling and the ice pelting her narrow glass window high above her. The fire in the hearth shuddering like her body as the wind battered the keep.

  She woke far before the sun, the keep still quiet the type of quiet that pressed in your ears.

  The fire had long burned down to ashes and her breath clouded in front of her. She stretched her legs, the cold from the stones around her having seeped bone deep.

  She lifted her left arm examining the intricate knots of the rune tattooed at her wrist. The black ink wrapped around itself in ways she didn’t understand. She ran the thumb from her other hand over it, cold. Her brows knotted together before the rune warmed lazily under her touch. Happy, waiting watching her.

  She stood stiffly walking into the bathing chamber taking in her ragged face in the dented mirror. The dark tired circles were still there, her face pale from emptying her stomach contents the night before. But something underneath was different. She touched fingers to her cheek running them down the way Aethryn would and shuddered. The feeling repulsed her more than comforted.

  She lowered her hand slowly gripping the stone in front of her. The girl staring back in the mirror looked like her but something had shifted.

  Something she was afraid she couldn’t put back.

  A knock pulled her from her thoughts, making her jump. Before she realized it wasn’t at her door but down the hall. She listened as the footsteps approached her door, she stood frozen in place, then they continued. She let out the breath she was holding walking back into her main room.

  She looked at the stone in the wall and her fingers touched the paper she had taken yesterday in her cloak pocket. The book hidden in the wall seemed to almost call her and she found herself crawling onto the bed and pulling it free.

  She sat on her knees on the bed and started flipping through the pages.

  Oath bound.

  Others.

  Knots.

  Her eyes skimmed the words without truly understanding.

  The rune sat silently at her wrist but she felt a prickle on her neck. Like eyes tracking her. Her breath caught and she whipped her head around. No one was there.

  She turned back to the book, the page trembling in between her fingers. She hadn’t even realized she was shaking. Her heart pounded in her ears.

  Everything was quiet, the keep, the rune…but not her thoughts. Then she heard the door across the hall. The scrap of wood on stone. Steps crossing to her door and pausing.

  She sat still and silent waiting. There was a soft knock and she had never moved so fast as she did stuffing the evidence messily back into the stone. She flopped herself down on the edge of the bed, breath coming in huffs as he entered without waiting. He always owned her space as his own.

  When his gray eyes met her frantic blue ones a smile that should have been comforting crossed his face but it made Virelya’s heartbeat quicken even more.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Aethryn softly closed the door behind him. The click of the latch sounded far louder than it was.

  “My shadow.” Aethryn’s voice was gentle; most would think it was affectionate. Virelya felt small.

  The rune warmed, pleased with her reaction. Owned.

  Aethryn’s gaze moved across the room. Her bed, clearly unslept in. The wall. Her face. Her hands.

  Searching.

  Assessing.

  He tilted his head to the side. “You did not grace your bed my shadow?”

  A question requiring a correct answer. Suspicion laced the gentleness. The rune tightened. He wasn’t just asking where she slept but why he had felt her here when she had clearly not been in her bed.

  “I fell asleep…on the floor.” The rune warmed at the truth she provided.

  Aethryn’s eyes lingered on her. Gray and endless. He stepped closer and crouched in front of her. She forced her breathing to slow but felt her muscles tense.

  “The storm was restless….almost as restless as you have been.” He nearly whispered the words almost like they were more meant for himself than her.

  He reached out for her wrist and she resisted the urge to pull her arm away.

  The rune instantly warmed under his fingers. His grip was gentle as he looked down where his fingers met her skin. The touch, warm, familiar, wrong.

  Aethryn looked up to study her face searching for something she wasn’t sure how to give.

  “You’re still mine. Still protected. But there is something troubling you.”

  The rune sent a wave of warmth up her arm and she nodded not because she wanted to, because she had to.

  Aethryn stood in front of her pulling her to her feet as he went.

  “Come little shadow I have something to show you.”

  He exited the room not waiting to see if she followed he knew she would.

  He did not look back, he never did.

  Virelya followed. The rune sat content and warm at her wrist. Approval of her obedience with each step she took.

  The keep was quieter than normal, the daily sounds being swallowed by the hollowing wind of the storm outside.

  Aethryn’s footsteps echoed on the stone, calm and confident. Virelya walked on silent boots behind him.

  He led her past the dining room and main rooms of the keep to the spiraling stairs that led to the lower, older areas of the keep.

  When they reached the bottom of the stairs Aethryn stopped at a heavy wooden door, strong iron crossing it.

  He turned to look at her his hand resting on the handle. “You remember this room my little shadow?” A slight sparkle shone in his eyes. A glint that hinted at something she couldn’t place.

  She laced her trembling hands in front of her, bowing her head in a small nod.

  He opened the door and Kaida stood inside the small room. She instantly straightened at the sight of Aethryn.

  “Master Aethryn.” She said eagerly, bowing to him before her sharp eyes flicked quickly to Virelya.

  Triumph.

  Aethryn stepped into the room, his robes seeming to gather the shadows from the lanterns. Virelya followed on shaken legs. The door closed with a heavy thud behind her that echoed in the too small room.

  “You performed so well yesterday.” Aethryn said to Kaida.

  The girl's face warmed like a summer sunrise as he circled her.

  Evaluating the way he had evaluated Virelya so many times.

  “You watched. You learned. You obeyed.”

  His eyes landed on Virelya with the last words.

  Simple words.

  Powerful words.

  Kaida held perfectly still.

  Aethryn reached out and brushed her cheek and Kaida’s eyes closed at the touch.

  Virelya felt her stomach tighten.

  Aethryn’s hand moved to Kaida’s arm lifting her wrist between the three of them.

  “Obedience is rewarded.”

  Kaida and Virelya’s breath caught at the same time as lines of black ink began to tangle themselves on Kaida’s small wrist.

  Kaida’s eyes glowed brightly as she watched the ink appear. Virelya felt her breathing quicken her hands twitched towards the girl as horror spread on her face. Aethryn caught her eyes and held them a satisfied smile gracing his face.

  The black ink stopped moving, settling in Kaida's skin as if it had always belonged there.

  Kaida stared at her wrist in awe. Her breathing was shallow and she turned her arm slowly examining the ink as it caught the lantern light.

  “It’s beautiful.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  Aethryn smiled but not at Kaida at Virelya.

  “You remember when this gift was given to you.” He said softly. Not a question.

  The run at her own wrist tightened, spreading heat up her arm at his attention. Her stomach turned.

  “I do.” She said the horror and sadness lacing the words far stronger than she had intended.

  Aethryn watched her a moment longer, weighing something unseen. Her own eyes never left Kaida.

  Kaida stepped forward suddenly. “I can feel it…” her eyes shone as she searched Aethryn’s face. “I can feel you.”

  Aethryn reached out, finally taking his eyes from Virelya. His face softened as he gently lifted Kaida’s chin. “Yes, you belong now.” He rubbed his finger along her jaw. “Safe, protected.”

  The words echoed off the stones and Virelya felt them settle in her bones like stone.

  Aethryn released Kaida and turned away from them. Settling the matter. “You can go now.” He said calmly.

  Kaida didn’t hesitate, bounding out of the room past Virelya with barely contained excitement. Virelya’s hands again twitched, reaching for the girl who so reminded her of herself.

  Aethryn didn’t look at her again. “You too little shadow.”

  The words were a gentle dismissal.

  She forced her legs to carry her out the door onto the stairs. The door closed with a final thud.

  Virelya held her hand to her chest gripping at the vice squeezing that wasn’t really there.

  For the first time since Aethryn pulled her from that alley all those years ago she understood.

  She wasn’t special.

  Wasn’t chosen.

  She was just owned…his.

  The rune warmed.

  Approval.