Chapter 18: The Collarless Girl
The hall was gold and stone, filled with nobles in silver-lined cloaks, jeweled whispers, and too many sharpened smiles.
It was Nyra's first official appearance.
No longer a slave.
No longer Evelyn.
Just a woman standing beside the Duke, without a collar.
And that made them nervous.
Too nervous.
One elder leaned in to another. "Isn't that the Smith girl?" "She's supposed to be dead." "No. She's worse—she's protected."
Bryant stood tall beside her.
Expression unreadable.
But his hand rested at the small of her back.
Claiming. Warning.
Until—
A voice cut through the noise like poisoned velvet.
"Well. She certainly cleans up well."
Nyra turned.
Lilian.
Wearing deep red. Lipstick darker than blood. Her smile slow, practiced, and laced with venom.
"I almost didn't recognize you without your leash," she purred.
"Funny," Nyra said coolly. "I almost didn't recognize you with your clothes on."
A ripple of laughter.
Lilian's eyes narrowed.
She stepped closer.
"To think… after all these years, all it took was one scarred little stray to make you forget every woman you've ever owned," she said, eyes flicking to Bryant.
Bryant didn't respond.
But Nyra did.
With a step forward. A tilt of her head.
And a line meant to draw blood.
"Maybe the problem wasn't the new girl," she said. "Maybe it was that you were never enough to make him remember the old ones."
Gasps.
Tension.
And then—
A slap.
Hard.
Fast.
Lilian's palm cracked across Nyra's face.
The room stilled.
Even the flames in the braziers seemed to pause.
Nyra didn't blink.
Didn't flinch.
She simply smiled… and turned to Bryant.
"Will you punish her?" she asked.
Bryant stared at Lilian.
Long.
Cold.
Then:
"Yes."
Lilian's face paled. "Bryant, I—"
He didn't even look at her again.
"Callan," he said. "Remove her from court. She's lost her privileges."
Gasps echoed again.
Lilian's voice rose behind them as Callan seized her arm. "You're throwing me out for her? A girl you don't even love—!"
But Bryant's voice cut through it all.
"I don't need to love her," he said. "I need her alive. That's more than I ever needed from you."
[End of Chapter 18]