The main hall of the Council of Thirteen was thick with a tension that clung to every breath. The Velona, Björn, Snova, Monra, and Bohne houses—pillars of power—sat with rigid posture, while the lesser houses waited in anxious silence. This meeting promised to shake the delicate balance that governed the community.
"Your face looks familiar," Dimitri Snova remarked, his gaze narrowing on one of the newer attendees.
"Perhaps our paths have crossed before, Lord Snova," Miller replied, bowing his head slightly with calculated grace.
Booklets outlining the agenda were distributed, and an uneasy murmur rippled through the room as the leaders scanned the contents.
"We were summoned early, yet the counselor is still absent," one of them commented with impatience.
"The good things are worth the wait," the counselor quipped sarcastically, calmly sealing the doors behind him.
At the end of the corridor, Varek emerged from the shadows. He walked with measured tranquility, each step echoing with an authority that demanded attention. But before reaching the chamber, he turned into a side room—to compose his thoughts.
And there, he froze.
Aisha was inside.
Her unexpected presence struck Varek like lightning.
"My whole life, I was a shadow in his game, a ghost he never let exist fully. But now I was here—claiming what he once rejected. And I was no longer the girl he abandoned. I was a woman, and my strength could no longer be ignored."
Varek narrowed his eyes as if seeing something unfamiliar in her.
"Aisha..." he murmured, closing the door behind him.
She didn't retreat. Instead, she stepped forward, steady and composed, ready to face the very community that had seen her born, raised… and now return beside someone she never imagined.
A voice from down the hall pulled her from her thoughts.
"Do you need to be part of this ridiculous display so badly?" His tone was irritated, but something else slipped beneath it—a note of unease.
A bitter laugh rose in her throat. He still believed he could control her with arrogance.
"Are Ishana and I so insignificant to you? Did we deserve your abandonment?"
Without waiting for a reply, she moved in and cornered him. Her rage exploded. She struck the wall hard, splitting her skin and smearing blood across her palm.
Varek closed in, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He grabbed her wrist before she could strike again, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"Enough!"
It wasn't a plea—it was an order.
But Aisha didn't follow orders. She yanked away, shoving him against the door with both hands.
"Don't tell me what to do!" she snapped, her voice rough with fury. "You have no right over me! You lost that years ago!"
Varek's smile was broken. Cruel.
"Is that what you think?" he whispered darkly. "You still carry the cursed Kerens blood—my father's blood. And you're alive in my world when you should have died. I protected you."
"And now you think my life belongs to you?!" Aisha shoved him again, but this time, he caught her.
Her back hit the wall. Her breath hitched. Varek gripped her waist, trapping her in place. The air between them thickened.
"Hate me all you want, Aisha. But you can't deny me."
And then he kissed her.
It wasn't soft. It was a collision—of repressed emotions, pain, and tangled desire.
Aisha didn't surrender. She bit his lip hard, tasting blood.
Varek didn't flinch. He only smiled against her mouth, breathing heavily.
"I knew you'd do that."
Aisha shoved him with all her strength, breaking free. Her eyes burned—not just with fury.
"Don't touch me again."
Varek licked his bloodied lip, danger dancing in his gaze.
"Then don't provoke me."
Before she could answer, he pulled a pair of cuffs from his belt and snapped them around her wrists.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Aisha fought wildly, but he gripped her tighter, dragging her toward the door.
"This is for your safety," he growled. "I won't let you leave again."
He shoved her into the room and shut the door behind her.
"Let me go, Varek!" Aisha screamed, pounding on the wood.
But her voice reached him like poison.
"Why? So you can run back to Sanathiel?" Varek said, his voice laced with jealousy and tightly coiled rage.
"You're just a coward in a king's clothing."
Aisha's jaw clenched, her fury erupting like wildfire.
"You have no right to speak about him!"
Varek laughed without warmth. Bitter. Cutting.
"I'll protect you from what's coming, even if you don't trust me," he said, his tone low, nearly intimate, as he held her waist to keep her from striking him again. "I'm your best option."
For a moment, time stopped. The heat of his grip. The weight of their past.
Then, without warning, Varek lowered his head and kissed her forehead.
Softly. As if he hadn't just chained her to a fate not her own.
As if he weren't the same man binding her against her will.
Aisha wanted to scream, to kick, to shatter the moment into a thousand pieces. But by the time she acted, he was gone—door sealed with a metallic click.
Leaving her alone.
The Main Hall
The room boiled with tension. Each house defended its ground, voices weaving strategy and ambition like a silent war.
Then, the doors swung open.
Varek entered with absolute calm, as though he hadn't just imprisoned Aisha moments earlier. His mere presence silenced the room.
He seated himself with the quiet certainty of an uncrowned king, lacing his fingers on the table and letting the silence stretch before speaking.
"My apologies for the delay," he said, his tone calm and deliberate. "Our community faces threats that demand urgent attention."
Björn raised an eyebrow, always unreadable.
"What do you propose, Lord Varek?"
Varek swept his gaze across the table, letting the weight of his authority settle on every leader.
"Sanathiel will be reinstated," he declared, letting the words land with precision. "But under strict surveillance. His return is necessary to strengthen our position."
The hall murmured, tense but without open dissent.
Varek smiled, satisfied—like he'd won before the game had even begun.
The Room:
Aisha wasn't waiting to be rescued.
Her mind worked fast, scanning for options. She spotted a metal hook. With trembling but determined hands, she began picking at the cuffs.
"I will not be a prisoner again."
With a sharp click, the lock gave.
Her breath still ragged, she opened the window. Cold wind hit her face. Her chance was now.
But before she could leap, the door slammed open.
Sanathiel stepped inside, his imposing figure framed by the hall light. His golden eyes locked on her, fierce and unwavering.
"What the hell are you doing here, Aisha?" he demanded, harsher than she expected.
She tensed—not from fear, but from the storm of emotions in her chest.
He walked over and held out a handkerchief.
"Clean yourself up," he said, eyes fixed on the red marks on her wrists.
Aisha accepted it, feeling the warmth of his touch, but said nothing. Inside, a war raged.
"What if I don't want to be part of this game, Sanathiel?"
He didn't flinch. He looked at her as if he could see through her.
"This isn't a game, Aisha. It's the only way to protect you from what's coming."
Then he slid something into her hand.
She looked down.
A ring.
Her pulse quickened.
"Your life is not a prize for anyone."
Sanathiel took her hand in his, leaning in until his forehead brushed hers—a silent promise deeper than words.
"We're engaged, Aisha. There's no turning back now."
The words hung between them. A pact. A decision she hadn't made… but now burned into her skin.
Aisha swallowed hard. Her mind screamed to fight, to run, to never be caged again.
But her fingers curled around the ring.
For one moment, it was just the two of them.
"I trust you, Sanathiel," she whispered at last, barely a breath.
He smiled faintly. A smile filled with promises.
Together, they descended the stairs toward the main hall.
The fire of war still burned in their hearts—but for the first time, Aisha wasn't alone.
Eyes met hers—some with respect, others with fear. But all understood one undeniable truth:
Aisha was no longer a pawn. She was a player.
And fate, relentless as ever, had already begun to move.
"They were wrong to think I was the offering," she realized.
"Now I am the threat."