Aria learned quickly that brute force wouldn’t save her.
So she tried something sharper.
Jack visited her chamber every evening—never at the same hour, never with the same guards. He kept patterns fractured, unpredictable. A man who had learned long ago how dangerous routine could be.
“You’re wasting resources,” Aria said calmly one night, testing a new approach. “Keeping me like this won’t earn you loyalty. It’ll earn you enemies.”
Jack didn’t even look at her as he poured himself a drink.
“Loyalty is overrated,” he replied. “Fear lasts longer.”
She tilted her head, studying him. “You’re wrong. Fear creates martyrs. Control creates empires.”
That finally earned her his attention.
He turned slowly, eyes sharp with interest—but not doubt.
“You always did think like a ruler,” he sai
