The Dungeon

June

I had heard the whispers.

The maid.

The one the king had called to his chambers.

Even though I had been banished from the inner court, news still found its way to me.

Servants talked. Guards talked.

The palace breathed gossip like air.

And I listened.

By noon, I had already made a decision.

The girl would learn.

She would learn exactly who ruled the king’s bed… and the palace corridors.

The dungeon smelled of damp stone and rust and something older underneath both.

I was aware of the chains before I was fully conscious. Cold iron around my wrists. My weight is pulling down. My back —

My back was on fire.

I heard her voice before I could lift my head.

"Look at you."

Soft. Almost gentle.

"The king's latest plaything."

I knew that voice.

I couldn't answer. My head hung forward and the cave tilted and I let the darkness take me again.

ELIRYA

I didn't hear them coming.

That was the first thing I remembered afterwards — how quiet it was before the cloth hit my face.

One moment I was in the corridor.

The next — darkness. Rough hands. The sound of stone scraping under dragging feet that were mine but wouldn't obey me anymore.

I tried to fight.

I tried to scream.

And I realized to late that I won't get help.

Who exactly have I offended?

JUNE

The girl passed out quickly.

Pathetic.

I watched the blood trail down pale skin in thin red lines and felt nothing except the cold satisfaction of a problem being addressed.

She opened her mouth —

Footsteps.

Heavy. Echoing through the cave with the specific rhythm of someone who has never needed to announce themselves because every room already knows.

My blood went cold.

The guards at the entrance straightened and stepped aside without a word.

Kharzak walked in.

Torvak is behind him. The headmaid behind Torvak.

I bowed came fast. "My king — I—"

Nobody looked at me.

Every eye in the room went to Elirya.

The girl's back was a ruin. Deep cuts. Blood is still moving. Skin split open in places that would scar if left untreated.

The cave went completely silent.

Kharzak didn't speak.

He didn't need to. His face had gone cold in that particular way that meant something was being decided and nobody in the room wanted to be present for the conclusion.

"My king, I can explain—"

"Save it, June." Quiet. Dangerously calm.

Torvak's jaw clenched. He stared at the girl and muttered something under his breath that June didn't catch.

Kharzak's eyes hadn't moved from Elirya once.

"Headmaid."

"Yes, my king."

"Get her down. Carefully."

Torvak moved before the sentence finished. His hands were careful around the chains — careful in a way that made June's chest tighten with something she didn't want to name.

He lifted the girl free, adjusting her so nothing pressed against her back.

The headmaid was already crying silently.

They moved toward the door.

Kharzak watched them go.

Then — "Headmaid."

She stopped immediately.

"Yes, my king?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"Use every herb you can find." A pause. "Take the maids into the forest if you must. The rare ones."

The headmaid's face fell.

"And do everything possible…" His voice dropped lower. "…to make sure she does not carry the scars of today on her skin."

"Yes, my king."

He turned to leave.

"June."

I stiffened.

"Wait for me in my chambers."

ELIRYA

I came back slowly.

Something cool and sharp-smelling pressed against my back. Many small pressures. Hands moving carefully.

"Open the window," someone said.

Fresh air hit the room.

I turned my face toward it.

"Don't move," the headmaid said gently. "You'll disturb the herbs."

I stopped moving.

The pain was still there but distant now, like something happening in another room.

I heard him.

Not his voice. His presence — that shift in the air that I had learned to recognise without meaning to.

He was in the room.

Standing somewhere behind me.

I didn't turn around. Couldn't.

The headmaid stepped back eventually. "All done, my king. I'll give her a sleeping mixture. She needs deep rest for the herbs to work."

A pause.

"The Beta and I will go into the forest for stronger ones."

Then I heard footsteps, moving away.

I pressed my face into the pillow and let the sleeping mixture pull me under.

KHARZAK

June was pacing when I entered.

She stopped the moment she saw my face.

"My king—" She stepped forward. "I know what it looked like but I wasn't going to kill her. It was just—"

"Why."

She blinked. "What?"

"Why did you touch her."

"She is a maid." June's voice steadied. "A human girl with no status. No rank. I was simply—"

"I didn't ask what she is." I stepped closer. "I asked why you touched her."

June's jaw tightened. "She has been drawing your attention since she arrived. Everyone sees it. I was protecting—"

"Protecting what."

Silence.

"Your place?" I said. "Is that what this was?"

"I am your mistress." The words came out sharp. Hot. "She is a slave."

I looked at her for a long moment.

"You whipped a maid nearly to death." Flat. "And shocked her collar. While she was chained."

"It was a few whips—"

"Shut up."

June's mouth closed.

I stepped closer until she had no choice but to look up at me.

"What is happening to you lately."

She swallowed.

"You had no right to touch the king's maid without my order."

"I am your mistress!" Anger breaking through now, hot and uncontrolled. "I have been beside you for years! That girl has been here three days and you—"

"I am not your husband."

The words landed.

June went still.

"I do not belong to you." My voice dropped lower. "I call you when I want you. Just like every other woman."

The room was very quiet.

She bowed her head.

"Yes, my king."

I turned and walked out.