Ava’s POV
I went back inside my room with the coffee still warm in my hands and the maid’s frightened voice still clear in my ears.
The realization from the kitchen followed me like a second shadow. Corren did not need to be standing in the doorway to enforce his rules. The entire household already moved according to them. Even the simple act of making coffee before sunrise had been enough to put someone else’s job at risk. I set the cup down on the table by the window and stood there for a moment longer, looking out at the gardens without really seeing them. The power he held was no longer abstract. It was in the walls, in the staff, in the quiet fear that lived under every polite interaction.
I pushed the thought aside as best I could and walked into the bathroom.
The water ran hot.
