I was the heart of the prophecy.

I never understood just how much weight that carried until now.

Killian didn’t let me leave. I couldn’t even dare to step out of his room. I was locked in.. his prisoner, or his possession…I couldn’t tell which, he slammed the door behind him when he left and I heard the sound of someone locking the door from outside.

Curled up on his enormous bed, I felt like a frightened mouse hiding from the cat. The storm outside roared, rain slashing against the windows, and I couldn’t stop shivering. The room was too big, too empty.. it swallowed me whole, I felt so alone, and I missed having Arlie around.

“Why the hell is she hiding from me,” I mumbled as I sobbed more still shivering.

The night dragged on. Killian never returned.

And I couldn’t sleep.

I cried until my eyes burned, then whispered to myself until my voice cracked, comforting and cursing in the same breath.

By morning, two handmaids entered quietly, their heads bowed. But I wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s company;

The heavy door creaked open, and footsteps echoed. I sat up, heart racing..hoping it was Killian. Instead, two servants appeared, each carrying a tray.

One held food.

The other held neatly folded fabric and several unfamiliar items.

“Lord Killian ordered us to attend to you,” one said softly, lowering her eyes.

I stepped out from behind the curtains, my jaw set. “I don’t need anything. I’m not hungry, and I don’t want your service.”

“We’re mandated to serve you,” the woman pleaded. “Please, my lady, just let us do our duty.”

She looked older, perhaps the oldest servant among them. Her tone wasn’t disrespectful, it was terrified.

“I said I don’t need you,” I snapped, my voice trembling but sharp.

That only made them drop to their knees. “Please, if we disobey, we’ll lose the right to live. Just this once, let us serve you.”

My chest tightened. “So every order here is sealed with a threat on life?”

They didn’t answer. The fear in their eyes said enough.

I didn’t want to eat or dress. Not if it gave Killian any advantage over me. I refused to make myself comfortable in a prison.

But before I could argue again, the door burst open..

and Killian stormed in.

He looked dangerous. His hair was soaked, water dripping from his clothes. His pale skin gleamed faintly under the dim light. He’d been in the rain, probably hunting.

“What is going on here?” he thundered, his gaze sweeping the room.

I flinched but didn’t back down. His eyes met mine, and there was something wickedly amused in them.

“I said I’m not hungry,” I muttered.

“Leave us,” he ordered the servants. They dropped the trays and fled.

“Stubborn…” he said, a slow grin curling on his lips. “I like your kind.”

“The kind that pretends to be stubborn to get my attention.” His tone was mocking, playful, but too dark to be harmless.

He took a step closer, his voice dropping. “Do you want me to help you bathe and dress, is that it?”

“I’ll help myself,” I stammered. “What is it to you anyway? You force your prisoners to eat and bathe?”

“I don’t like sharing my bed with a filthy, weak female,” he said flatly.

“Filthy?” I snapped. “You’re the one who locked me in here like an animal.”

He smirked, brushing a wet strand of hair from his forehead. “You’re not so different from my mother.. you enjoy watching others suffer.”

That hit deeper than I expected. I glared at him, forcing my trembling hands to stay still as his eyes travelled all over my body settling at my breast as his lips curved into a frantic smile.

“In your dreams,” I hissed through clenched teeth, grabbing the tray of toiletries and storming into the bathroom without another word.

I didn’t care if it broke their precious laws.

When I came out, clean and dressed, Killian was seated at the dining table, casually tearing into a piece of roasted meat.

“Join me,” he said without looking up. When I didn’t move, he added with a smirk, “Don’t be shy. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime invitation.”

“I’ll pass,” I shot back. “Yesterday you nearly pounced on me, and now you’re pretending to be kind? What’s your game?”

His expression didn’t change, but his eyes darkened. “You’re being stubborn.”

“I won’t eat,” I said firmly. “Not until Thorne wakes. It’s my vow.”

At that, something shifted in his gaze, cold and sharp.

“You’re vowing your life to that murderer right in front of me?” His voice was low, dangerous. “You must really enjoy provoking me.”

“This is a prison,” I said, my voice shaking. “Let me out, Killian. I can help him. I can prove my innocence, just let me see him.”

I didn’t realize how weird it was calling him by his first name and strangle how he never made an issue out of it.

He didn’t answer, he just kept eating, the sound of his knife scraping the plate echoing in the silence.

When he finished, he stood, wiped his mouth, and walked out without a word.

A few hours later, the doors opened again, this time, six guards entered, carrying a large wooden cage. It was round, barred, and cruelly open, like a mockery of freedom.

My stomach dropped.

Killian followed behind them, his presence filling the room like thunder.

“You want to know what prison feels like?” he said darkly. “If you can’t respect me, then I’ll treat you like the others.”

“Lock her in.”

I fought, screamed, kicked, but it didn’t take them a minute to trap me inside.

Killian watched, his face cold and unreadable. “This will be your new home until you learn to listen.”

I gripped the bars, shaking with fury. “I won’t give in,” I spat. “Now I see why Thorne never listened to you.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

The room went deathly silent.

Killian’s eyes froze on me, his jaw tightening, his breath slow and lethal.

Then his lips curved into a chilling smile.

“You shouldn’t have said that.”