Vol.3/Chapter 14: Chains and Choices

Luca’s POV:

The air was heavy with reflection. Everyone had quieted after Lady Elena’s words, but in that silence, I could feel something stirring—hope, maybe. Maybe even healing.

Scion sat at the far end of the chamber, her eyes hollow but alert. Though she was bandaged and fed, there was something else still shackling her. I could see it: a jagged black-metal collar around her neck, encrusted with sigils and tiny puncture wounds. A slave collar. It pulsed faintly with cursed energy.

We all saw it.

Theo hadn’t moved since his last words, standing still like a statue carved from fury and heartbreak. But I walked over to Scion slowly, carefully, and knelt beside her.

“May I?” I asked, gesturing to the collar.

She didn’t answer, but the look in her eyes was enough. A single nod. Permission… and fear.

Lady Elena joined me, her fingers brushing over the cursed metal without touching it directly.