[POV: Ennessa]
Ennessa stared at the empty chair across from her.
She had made a mistake.
A stupid one.
She had trusted a slave.
The thought alone irritated her.
How could I have been so careless?
From the beginning, she’d considered the possibility that the boy might be a spy.
But that possibility had never made much sense.
He was a slave from Eldia.
He didn’t behave like a spy.
He didn’t have the education, connections, or freedom of movement that a trained infiltrator would need.
And yet...
She had trusted him anyway.
Perhaps that had been the problem.
She had looked at what he was and assumed she already understood what he could be.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.
He took the letter.
That was the only explanation she could think of.
He must have opened it before reaching Mirelle’s house.
Perhaps he’d seen the money inside.
Taken it.
Then disappeared.
The thought made her jaw tighten.
That money wasn’t hers to waste.
It had been meant for Mirelle’s husband.
His treatment was expensive, and sending money through the normal channels was impossible.
Mirelle had been cast out of House Korrandis.
Whatever protection the household once provided her was gone.
That was why Ennessa had needed someone else to carry the letter.
Someone who wouldn’t attract attention.
And she had chosen him.
Idiot.
Or perhaps not.
Ennessa leaned back in her chair.
There was something she couldn’t reconcile.
If the boy really had stolen the money, why disappear now?
He worked inside the Korrandis estate.
He knew the rules.
And if he had decided to run...
Where would he even go?
She knew enough about slaves to know how little freedom they actually possessed.
Yet somehow, he had vanished.
Ennessa’s eyes narrowed.
Maybe he isn’t as stupid as I thought.
That possibility was worse.
If he had deliberately taken the money and escaped, then everything she’d thought she knew about him had been wrong.
She tapped one finger against the desk.
Should she tell Father?
The thought remained for several seconds.
Then she shook her head.
Not yet.
If she told him and the boy had simply been delayed, she would have to explain why she had trusted him with the letter in the first place.
And there was another problem.
The private archive.
If Father started asking questions, the boy’s disappearance could bring attention to things she had no intention of explaining.
Ennessa slowly exhaled.
"No."
She looked toward the window.
"I’ll find him first."
If he had betrayed her, she would deal with him herself.
And if he hadn’t...
Then she wanted to know exactly what had happened to him.
....
The butler stood behind the desk, his expression unchanged.
"I am inclined to think you have forgotten what it means to be a servant in this house, Caiden."
Eldrin kept his eyes lowered to the floorboards. "I am sorry, sir."
He couldn’t exactly tell them what had happened.
I was kidnapped by people from Eldia while delivering Lady Ennessa’s letter.
That would raise questions he couldn’t afford.
Eldrin needed something simpler.
The butler waited.
Eldrin swallowed.
"I was kidnapped."
The butler’s expression didn’t change.
"By whom?"
Eldrin hesitated.
"I don’t know."
He lowered his eyes.
"They took me outside the city. I was kept somewhere for two days."
The butler said nothing.
"I managed to get away when they weren’t watching."
He paused, choosing his next words carefully.
"I didn’t know where I was. I walked until I found a road, then followed it back toward Here."
"And it took you three days."
"Yes."
Eldrin kept his face lowered.
The butler stared at him for several seconds.
"Either of those."
Eldrin looked up.
The man’s voice remained calm.
"There is a clear punishment for a slave who fails to return to the estate."
His gaze moved briefly toward the clock on the wall.
"You were gone for three days."
Eldrin’s stomach tightened.
"Now you will face the consequences."
He turned toward the door.
"Your punishment will be both physical and contractual."
Eldrin’s expression changed.
"Contractual?"
"The remaining term of your servitude has been increased."
The butler looked back at him.
"From ten times to twelve times."
Eldrin stared at him.
"That’s unfair."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
The butler’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Fair?"
He almost seemed amused.
"You were given one responsibility."
"You failed to return."
"I didn’t abandon my duties."
"You were absent for three days."
Eldrin clenched his jaw.
To them, he was a slave who had disappeared.
The butler opened the door.
"Take him."
Two guards entered.
Eldrin didn’t resist.
There was no point.
They took him through a narrow corridor toward the lower part of the estate.
The air became colder as they descended.
One of the guards unlocked a heavy door.
Beyond it was a row of small rooms.
Lockers.
These were stone chambers with iron doors.
Eldrin stopped walking.
For the first time, his fear showed clearly.
One guard unlocked an empty chamber.
"Inside."
Eldrin stepped through.
The door closed behind him.
The lock turned.
A moment later, it opened again.
Both guards entered.
Eldrin barely had time to turn.
The first blow struck his stomach.
"Ugh!
Air left his lungs.
He folded forward.
The second caught him across the back.
Thud!
He hit the floor.
Pain spread through his ribs.
He tried to crawl away.
A boot stopped him.
Bam!!!
Another blow came.
Gah!!!!
Eldrin cried out.
He had endured training.
He had endured hunger.
He had endured worse things than bruises.
But this wasn’t training.
There was no lesson.
No opponent to read.
No chance to improve.
Just punishment.
Another strike landed.
Then another.
Eldrin’s hands curled against the stone.
Stop.
He reached instinctively for the warmth beneath his chest.
Nothing.
His breath caught.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
The warmth that had always been there when he needed the Silver Tongue refused to appear.
Why?
He remembered the hospital.
The command he’d used on Zarian.
The exhaustion afterward.
Maybe he’d pushed it too far.
Maybe there was a limit he’d never known existed.
Smack!!!
Another blow struck.
Eldrin’s vision blurred.
He couldn’t even summon the one thing that might have helped him.
Eventually, the guards stopped.
The room fell silent.
Eldrin remained on the floor, breathing through clenched teeth.
His entire body hurt.
He didn’t know how long he stayed there.
Then....
Footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Eldrin forced himself to sit up.
The door opened.
He instinctively braced himself.
A familiar figure stood beyond it.
Ennessa.
She looked down at him.
Her gaze moved from his face to the chains around his ankles.
Then back to his eyes.
"So you have come back."
Eldrin stared at her.
His body was shaking from exhaustion.
He forced the words out.
"My lady..."
His voice cracked.
"I got outside because of your work."
He swallowed.
"Please."
His eyes lowered.
"Please let me go."
Ennessa’s expression remained unreadable.
"My work was simple."
Eldrin looked up.
"I got kidnapped." He said.
"I see."
Her answer was almost too calm.
"That isn’t my responsibility." She replied.
Eldrin’s jaw tightened.
"You sent me."
"And you accepted."
She stepped into the room.
"Don’t put this on me."
Her voice hardened slightly.
"You were the one who entered my family’s private archive."
Eldrin went still.
"If you hadn’t done that..."
She looked directly at him.
"...I would never have given you that work."
The words landed heavily.
Ennessa kept her expression controlled.
But inside, she felt something else.
She couldn’t.
If she suddenly interfered with a slave’s punishment, people would notice.
Questions would follow.
Why was Lady Ennessa protecting him?
Why was she personally involved?
Rumors would spread through the estate before the day was over.
She couldn’t afford that.
I’m sorry.
"You are right." Eldrin voice was quiet.
Then his eyes lifted.
"But you still used me."
Ennessa’s expression changed.
Barely.
Eldrin continued.
"You knew I couldn’t refuse you."
Silence settled between them.
For the first time, Ennessa looked genuinely displeased, because a boy in chains had just looked past her noble title.
"You seem to be forgetting your place, Caiden," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet, icy tone that allowed no further argument.
She turned on her heel and swept out of the cell, leaving him alone in the dark.