The first thing I learn about the Hollow Chamber is that it doesn’t echo screams.
The sound dies before it can travel.
Not because the walls absorb it—but because they were never meant to hear weakness.
I stand at the center of the inner ring, bare feet pressed to stone that hums faintly beneath my skin. The silver glow hasn’t faded. It’s quieter now, coiled tight instead of spilling everywhere, like a blade sheathed just long enough to be polite.
The woman—Maerra, they finally told me her name—watches from the edge of the circle.
“You have two options,” she says calmly.
I laugh, sharp and humorless. “That’s a lie. You don’t drag someone underground to give them options.”
A faint curve touches her mouth. “Fair.”
She gestures with her fingers.
The chamber responds instantly.
The f
