In the Shadow of the Crown

The dim glow of candlelight flickered across the stone walls, casting long, restless shadows that danced with the weight of something unspoken. The air was thick with the remnants of magic, clinging to the silk sheets and the cold iron of the chains that still bound Eliza in place.

Raen sat beside her, his presence both suffocating and intoxicating. His fingers brushed idly along the edge of the silver cuffs at her wrists, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

She was still here. Still bound. Still his.                

And yet, he could see it in her eyes - the fight, the fire that had not yet been extinguished.

[Good.]

He didn’t want her to break too easily.

[Not yet.]

Eliza sat rigidly, her breath steady but her fingers curled into the sheets as if bracing for whatever came next. The mark he had left on her throat stood out against her pale skin, a stark contrast to the delicate collar that encircled her neck like a noose made of gold.

She would never admit it, but he could see it the way her body betrayed her, the way her pulse quickened when he was close.

She was learning.

Learning that no chain could be as strong as the one he was weaving inside her mind.

"You haven't tried to run again," Raen murmured, breaking the silence.

Eliza scoffed, turning her face away. "What's the point?"

His smirk deepened.

[Ah. There it was.]

[Not surrender. Not yet.]

[But doubt.]

She was beginning to wonder. Beginning to question.

[Would he always find her? Would he always pull her back?]

[Would escape ever be anything more than an illusion?]

Raen reached forward, brushing his knuckles along her jaw, tilting her face back toward him. Her skin was warm beneath his fingers, her breath slow but uneven.

"You will always be mine, Eliza," he murmured. "The only choice you have left is how long you plan to fight the inevitable."

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she did not look away.

[A challenge.]

Raen chuckled softly, tracing a slow line down her throat, over the mark he had left, before finally settling his hand at the base of her neck.

"Perhaps it’s time for a test," he mused.

Eliza tensed. "A test?"

Raen nodded, his fingers tightening slightly against her throat. Not enough to hurt. Just enough to remind her.

"I’m going to give you something I know you crave." His eyes glowed with something dark, something dangerous. "A choice."

Eliza frowned.

Raen leaned closer, his lips brushing against her ear. "Tomorrow, I will leave the door unlocked."

A flicker of surprise crossed her face, but she masked it quickly.

"You expect me to believe that?" she asked.

Raen merely smiled. "Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. What matters is what you will do when the opportunity presents itself."

Eliza's heart pounded in her chest, though she kept her expression carefully guarded.

"Go, if you wish," Raen continued, his thumb stroking lazily against her pulse. "Run. Try to escape."@@novelbin@@

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"But if you stay…" His voice dropped lower, almost to a whisper. "If you choose to remain, then you will finally understand what it means to belong to me."

Eliza swallowed hard.

"You're toying with me," she accused.

Raen's smirk was sharp as a blade. "Always."

He released her then, rising from the bed with the kind of effortless grace that made her stomach twist.

She had spent so much time trying to fight him, trying to resist the pull of his presence. But the truth was undeniable. He was in her head. In her bones. In her breath.

And now… he was setting a trap she couldn’t ignore.

[Would he really let her go?]

[Or was this just another game?]

She didn’t know.

But the worst part was.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

***

Raen stood outside the chamber, the cool night air drifting in through the open corridor. Vaughn leaned casually against the stone wall nearby, arms crossed, watching him with quiet amusement.

"You’re testing her," Vaughn mused.

Raen gave a slow nod. "She needs to see it for herself."

Vaughn raised a brow. "See what?"

Raen turned his gaze toward the darkened hallway, his smirk fading into something quieter, something more dangerous.

"That no matter how far she runs," he murmured, "she will always find her way back to me."

Vaughn chuckled. "And if she doesn’t?"

Raen’s smirk returned, cold and confident.

"Then I will remind her."

And this time… she would never forget.