She knew tonight would be different.
The way the maids bathed her longer than usual. The way they massaged her thighs, oiled her neck, and fastened the golden cuffs to her wrists—not to restrain her, but to decorate her. Her body shimmered in the candlelight. The air smelled of spice and heat.
And the sheer red veil they wrapped around her body left nothing to the imagination.
She didn’t ask where she was being taken.
She knew better now.
Obedience had become instinct. Her resistance was still somewhere inside her—but buried. Waiting. Hoping he’d never dig it out again.
Two guards escorted her down a long corridor beneath the palace, into an underground chamber she’d never seen before. The walls were stone, carved with ancient script. Torches lined the path. The further she descended
