I could not fight. Not yet. Not when the men dragged us away. Their hands were rough on my arms and shoulders, forcing us forward while the cold floor scraped under my knees every time I stumbled. My breath shook, not because I was afraid of them, but because it hurt beyond measure to know that I had been betrayed. Betrayed by someone I had once trusted with my very life. The sting of it cut deeper than any wound they could ever inflict.

“Do not fight it,” I whispered to Varken, my voice ...