Chapter 36

In a damp, lightless cell, Zevander hangs in chains, ravaged by dehydration, starvation, and wounds carved with Venetox steel as punishment for killing one of General Loyce’s pets. His resolve erodes under relentless agony and the remembered screams of Vaelora, whom Loyce used to torment him.

As his mind frays, Zevander hallucinates Vaelora accusing him of letting her be taken, driving him toward despair. Then a different vision appears: a lorn woman with winter-gray eyes who comforts him and urges him to endure, insisting an unbroken flame endures beneath his suffering. Her warmth vanishes, leaving him with only the memory of her words.

A small Golvyn slips into the cell and, despite expecting hatred, helps Zevander by fetching foul water. The meager relief underscores Zevander’s precarious state and his dwindling strength to keep fighting.

General Loyce arrives with an attendant, demanding he beg for mercy. Zevander refuses, trading barbs. Loyce reveals a golden curved bar inspired by deadly trials she once witnessed and declares it will mark his “victory.” She explains each decade will bring another piercing, each enchanted to ensure he will never know pleasure without pain or love without suffering.

As the attendant hauls Zevander upright and strips away his last covering, Loyce prepares the first enchanted piercing, beginning the curse meant to define his future with inescapable torment intertwined with desire.