Elara didn't like the way Ryan Calderon looked at her—like he had already decided her fate, like he knew something she didn't.
She should have been afraid.
Maybe a part of her was.
But fear had no place here. Not when she was standing before the man who could end her life with a single command.
Ryan's storm-gray eyes held her in place, and for a moment, she swore he could hear the frantic beating of her heart.
Then, as if bored, he turned to the guards stationed at the entrance. "Unchain her."
Elara's breath caught. What?
The guards hesitated, but a single sharp glance from the emperor had them moving. Within seconds, the heavy iron shackles clattered to the marble floor. The weight on her wrists lifted, but Elara knew better than to think she was free.
She rubbed the raw skin where the metal had bitten into her flesh, eyes darting toward Ryan warily. "What's this?"
Ryan stepped back toward his throne, settling into the massive chair with the ease of a man who feared nothing. He rested one arm on the side, his fingers tapping lazily against the carved wood.
"You're my guest now."
Elara let out a sharp laugh. "A guest? Is that what you call it when you kidnap someone and drag them into your palace?"
Ryan's lips twitched. "Would you rather go back to the dungeons?"
She glared at him but said nothing.
That amused him. "I didn't think so."
Elara forced herself to stand tall, even though her body ached from being dragged across half the empire. "Why are you keeping me here?"
Ryan leaned forward slightly. "I told you—I want answers."
"I already told you—I don't have any."
Ryan exhaled, almost as if he were disappointed. "You will."
A shiver ran down Elara's spine, but she masked it with defiance. "And if I don't?"
Ryan smirked. "Then you'll stay in this palace until you do."
She clenched her fists. "That sounds an awful lot like a prison to me."
Ryan tilted his head. "Does it?" He gestured toward the massive doors behind her. "You're free to walk through those doors. Free to roam the palace. Free to live as you wish."
Elara narrowed her eyes. "But?"
His smirk deepened. "But you are not allowed to leave."
A cage without chains.
A prison wrapped in luxury.
Elara bit the inside of her cheek. "So, that's your game? Keep me locked in your golden palace until I give you what you want?"
Ryan didn't answer. He didn't have to.
She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "I don't even know what you want from me."
Ryan studied her for a long moment, then, in a voice like quiet thunder, he said:
"I want to know why the blood of the lost kingdom runs through your veins."
The world tilted beneath her feet.
Elara's breath hitched.
He knew.
She staggered back a step before she could stop herself. "I—I don't know what you're talking about."
Ryan's expression didn't change, but his eyes glinted like steel. "Lie to me again, and I won't be so patient."
Elara swallowed hard. Her mind spun, desperate to find a way out of this, but there was none.
Ryan Calderon knew she wasn't just some nameless girl. He knew she wasn't supposed to exist.
And now, she was trapped in his palace, with nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
And for the first time in years—
Elara realized she was truly in danger.
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