Heir of Ashes

Chapter 6: Inherited Silence

Adena POV

I sit at the dressing table, combing my hair for the hundredth time. Slow, methodical, forcing each strand into place, because perfection is the only way to survive in this house. Sometimes I hate looking at myself, not because of the bruises, which are rare and usually hidden. I haven’t been giving him many reasons to punish me. I’m broken in by now.

I hate looking at myself because this beauty brought me here.

My twin sister, Ava, has pale blonde hair and soft, violet eyes. Ordinary. Me? My hair has a faint pinkish tint, subtle but impossible to ignore, and my eyes, my cursed eyes, couldn’t decide on a single colour. Purple, green, blue and red all swirling together. Rainbow eyes. Eyes that catch attention. Eyes that drew Dominiq to me, fast and hungry, like a wolf to prey.

I twist a strand of hair around my finger, thinking, Maybe if I were plain, he wouldn’t have become so obsessed. I find myself wishing he had chosen her or any other girl.

He was claiming me before I even had a chance to breathe. I didn’t even know it until it was too late.

A shiver runs down my spine. The mirror shows more than my reflection; it shows the danger waiting outside my door, the ghost of my own past, the shadow of what my daughter may inherit. Meira. Only fourteen. Only just learning to walk on her own legs in a world that wants to own her. I feel a knot in my chest tighten.

The knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts.

“Come in,” I say, though my voice feels smaller than I intend. A servant steps inside, bowing her head. “Ma’am… you have a visitor. She insists.”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone…” I mutter, mostly to myself. No one ever comes to see me. Dominiq has made sure to drive everyone in my life away. I have two brothers and 2 sisters, and the only one I get to see is Ava and rarely at that.

“She tracked mud into the hallway. I took her to the drawing room. I wish to clean it before the master-” I nod. The staff is careful; they always try to protect me from Dominiq’s temper. I follow the hallway, a cold prickle crawling down my spine. Something about this feels wrong, though I cannot name it.

I open the drawing room door. Gabriella, Caden’s mother, is there waiting for me. She is wearing running clothes, her cheeks are flushed, and her hair is damp from exertion. She stands there awkwardly and completely out of place, shifting from foot to foot.

“Good morning,” I say, trying to steady my voice. Dominiq would lose his mind if I ever looked like that. He expects perfection every day.

“Good… morning,” she stammers. Her hands twist the hem of her jacket, a nervous tic. “I… I shouldn’t even be here. My husband would-” she hesitated, drifting off. I needed her to say what she came here to say. It is obviously important, or she wouldn’t be here.

“You’re here now. Speak,” I say. There is no time for hesitation. She swallows, forcing her gaze to meet mine. “It’s about the engagement. Your daughter… she cannot marry my son.”

I frown. “Excuse me?” I sneered. Looking at her in disbelief. If she for a moment thought that my daughter wasn’t good enough for her son, then she was deluded. Meira is way too good for him. She deserves so much more than him and this life.

“Caden… he isn’t like other boys.” She froze again, thinking how to put this. “He’s dangerous, Adena. He was raised to own, not to love. My husband, he… he taught him to treat everything he loves as something to dominate, to break… if it does not bend perfectly to his will, he will destroy it.” Her voice drops to a trembling whisper. “I know it sounds absurd. He’s only fifteen, but I have watched him. I have seen him… with toys, with staff, with women. Those he likes, he loves too much, too violently. He doesn’t understand gentleness. And those he dislikes… he destroys.

“You… you must cancel this engagement.”

She steps closer, voice dropping

“Cancel it,” she whispers. “Before he breaks her.”

I feel it then—cold, creeping terror in my chest.

I’ve seen this before. Dominiq, I’ve seen this before. I live it. My hands grip the arms of the chair. “You… you expect me to break off the engagement because of what… a boy might do?” Might…of course, Dominiq would choose someone just like him for our daughter.

“Yes,” Gabriella says, shaking. “Because he is not a boy. He is a prince in training to rule with cruelty. If he grows attached to her, if she doesn’t bend… she will be broken, Adena, like the toys he cannot cherish. Like… like you understand, don’t you? You know this life. You know the shape of fear when someone who loves you cannot be tamed.”

Her words, sharp and clear, form a knot in my stomach. My own history- Dominiq’s obsession, the bruises, the quiet fear, the nights of clinging to the children to protect them-all rise in me. Meira. My daughter. Only fourteen. Too young to understand, too young to protect herself from this type of love.

“I… I don’t know if I can stop it. The engagement is arranged. My husband-Dominiq-”

“I know he has the final say, but he loves you. You will be able to convince him, won’t you? My husband doesn’t even love me. His behaviour isn’t based on love; he doesn’t know how to love. Cadan never learned what love is from us. The idea of love he has in his mind is deformed and twisted,” Gabriella cuts in.

“But your daughter is your world. And she deserves a chance to live, to be loved without… without being destroyed. You see it in her face, don’t you? How she froze in the ballroom last night, how her hands shook? That wasn’t nerves from having to perform in public. That is fear of being claimed, of becoming his.”

Her words echo in my mind. I know fear. I know claiming. I know the weight of a father, a husband, a world pressing down on me. My marriage had also been arranged. We needed alliances, but it was our choice. That isn’t the case here.

The door handle turns.

Slowly.

And my blood runs cold.

My body goes rigid, blood running cold. Gabriella’s eyes widen in recognition; she bolts, almost tripping on her way out. She just left me here alone. If she had acted like we were just having tea, he wouldn’t have reacted, but she ran like we were doing something wrong. She had risked everything just by coming here. If her husband learned she had tried to sabotage the alliance, who knows what he’d do to her. So I guess I can’t blame her for fleeing.

“Dominiq…” My face pales. My heart hammers.

Dominiq POV

I hear whispers of a visitor in my home. A visitor I was never told about. My steps are silent but deliberate. Adena is meeting someone in secret. My anger builds as I make my way to the drawing room. Adena wouldn’t keep a secret from me; she loves me. There has always been only me. No one else could love her like me. No one deserves to love her but me.

Listening at the door, I hear female voices, the words-the warning about Caden. And my blood boils. She’s speaking of breaking the engagement. Of my daughter being in danger. And yet, my mind only screams Adena, this will make Adena angry with me, she will pull away again.

I open the door. I need to stop this before my beautiful Queen gets any ideas. Gabriella flees before I can react. Adena stands frozen. Perfectly composed, and yet… trembling.

“Dominiq, we need to talk about the engagement…” She almost whispers at me. Her voice never raises when she talks to me. I don’t know why she acts so afraid. I don’t hurt her intentionally; I don’t hurt her. I correct her. And only when I have to. She has been mostly good over the years. I’ve only had to make a couple of corrections here and there.

“No,” I say, simply. My voice commands, devours. “No discussion.” That should have made her drop the conversation. If I say no, it is no, and she knows that.

“I’m afraid Caden-” she begins. I put a stop to that immediately.

“Stop. Nothing you say will change my mind.” I raise my hand like I am physically putting a stop to the words.

Her gaze flicks, panicked. “If you do this-” She starts to threaten, and once again, I just move on, stopping her before she says something she will regret. It’s better for her if I don’t hear how that sentence would have ended. I am so kind to her, always taking her well-being into account.

“I will not break the engagement,” I repeat. Each word is a hammer striking the walls of reason.

“Dominiq…” Adena whimpers. My pulse surges. I feel the house shift around me, blackening, bending to my fury. She isn’t taking the chances I am giving her.

“Why are you meeting someone in secret?” My tone is sharp, cold. I step closer to her. I am not taking this disrespect anymore. I tried being reasonable.

“I… I…” She falters. “She… she came to warn me about Caden. I didn’t know that she would come and see me. I was just fetched from my room.” I narrow in on her.

“I… if you do this, I will never forgive you. I have always loved you, but this… this will destroy everything!” Her voice trembles as she tries to stand her ground. The words ring in my ears, blinding rage rolling over me. I grabbed her by the throat.

“Loved? You would abandon me for a warning?” My hand tightens-not gently, but in a way that grips, that marks. “Tell me what you were going to say,” she hesitates.

“I… I always loved you…” She tried again, but struggled to form the word due to my tight grip. Her eyes started to water. Hopefully, tears of regret.

“Always?” I lean in my face inches from hers. She opened her mouth to answer me, but a gasp from behind us stopped her. The gasp was followed by a tray falling on the ground. It distracts me as I look over my shoulder, my grip loosening, and Adena manages to escape. She ran past me and out of the room so fast my eyes barely managed to follow the movement.

I look at the door, astonished by the nerve of Adena. How dare she run away from me? The maid who distracted me was on her knees picking up the broken teapot, the floor covered in cake, tea and glass.

“You are fired, get the f**k out of my palace!” She had let my prey escape. The maid had only come to deliver tea. She had no idea she was walking into a storm. As I moved towards the door, a glint caught my eye. Bending down, I grabbed the knife.

It’s a small, thin cake knife.

In my hand—it isn’t.

I walk calmly down the hall, towards my room. It’s the only place that still locks; she would definitely run there thinking it would be safe. No lock will stop me; I have proven it before. I removed all the locks the last time she wanted to hide from me. I only left the lock on our room since I need some alone time with her. I can’t have people just walking in while I worship my Queen's body.

My heart hammers so violently it could shatter ribs. Each step closer, the harder it hammers.

I stalk down the hall faster. Every corner, every shadow conspires with my fury. Her fear is a thrill I cannot admit, but it fuels me. My obsession spins outward, consuming thought after thought. I reach the room, unlocking it with the key I always have on my person. She is hiding in the corner.

I lunge; there is no point in walking over and having her try to elude me. I seized her by the hair. She screamed out in pain as I lifted her up by the hair. She tried pulling away from me, but my grip was unfailing.

Her next attempt was striking at me. She elbowed me in my middle. My mind sharpens, jagged and cold. I press her against the wall, feeling the shudder of fear in her chest.

I thought that I had managed to force the obedience I needed from her, but she is still fighting me. She doesn’t understand how much she means to me. How much I fear losing her, and if I have to take my punishment to the next level, I will.

With her being pressed against the wall, she is finally facing me. Her eyes landed on the knife in my hand as I raised it against her throat. A glint of silver. I press it lightly, teasingly, against her throat.

A drop of blood forms.

And I don’t pull the knife away.

“You want to leave me?” I hiss. “I’d rather you die still loving me than live knowing you don’t.” Her hands clutch my chest. Her voice is trembling, soft, loving.

“I… I am here. I am yours. Always.” My pulse thrums, but the spiralling panic does not end. I cannot lose control. Not now. Not ever. I can’t give in to her sweet words. I need to make sure that she means them.

I need to know that she is MINE.

I need her to be mine, always.

She promised always.

The room was filled with a shrill scream. Dragging me away from my thoughts.

“Daddy! Stop!” and everything shatters.

“You’re hurting her!” My head turned towards the door to see the fourteen-year-old girl rushing closer. She must have heard Adena screaming. She always manages to interrupt my punishment, like she is watching and waiting to stop me.

Meira. My daughter. Tear-stained, trembling. My power is absolute in her gaze, and yet… I use it. I manipulate.

“I’ll stop,” I say, my voice softening, almost cruelly tender. “If you promise to marry Caden.” It isn’t fair of me to hold her mother's safety over her head. I never promised to be fair. I will not lose Adena, and I will not lose this alliance. Which means I will have to hold onto them both tightly.

She does not hesitate.

“I swear,” Above all, I am merciful.

Just like that-

My daughter trades her future…

for her mother’s life.

I release Adena. The knife dropped to the floor, glinting harmlessly where it lay. Control maintained. Obedience won. And yet… in the depths of my mind, the spiral only grows. Even as the knife leaves her throat, even as our daughter swears obedience, I know nothing will ever belong to me the way I belong to her.