N Y X A R A
Kaelor’s mercy sat in my chest like a second blade, and unlike steel, I could not dig it out.
Chains I understood. Locks. Threats. Hands that held too long. Voices that turned my bones into obedience.
But mercy had no handle. It had released me when I demanded it. Backed away while I shook hard enough to bite blood from my tongue and said no one commanded my body here. Not even him.
After that, Ashmoore put me in a guarded room. Warm stone walls. One narrow window too high to reach. A door thick enough to mock bad ideas.
Two wolves outside pretending their breathing didn’t change whenever I moved. I sat on the unused bed and counted weaknesses.
First guard: weight shift every sixth breath. Old left-knee injury.
Second guard: listened too hard. Trusted his nose more than
