The Death of a Tyrant's Concubine

CHAPTER 54 - Warning bells

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【𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄】

The loneliest hours were always during the day.

Sylvos' carriage was large, comfortable, and gilded with every luxury an emperor could offer. I used to pass time talking with Ryn while playing with Vyvy.

But now... now there was nothing.

Ryn was gone.

Ever since I'd given myself to Sylvos, he hadn't appeared in Raincatcher since. I suppose I couldn't blame him... But I still searched. Still called his name. Still hoped... He'd be there again.

But he wasn't.

And each passing day, the empty feeling grew wider. Like I'd lost a part of myself and the hole inside me was beginning to rot.

The nights were easier. At least the ones where Sylvos was there. Those nights, when his arms wrapped around me and his breath warmed my skin, I felt whole again.

But on the nights he was away, the dreams came.

They were worse than before. The deaths I saw were no longer hazy or fleeting — they were vivid and sharp. Cutting into my sleep until I woke shaking and drenched in sweat.

They felt real.

And being alone only made it worse.

I hated it. The silence. The emptiness. The way my own thoughts turned against me. I realized, more than ever, how much I needed Ryn's voice to keep me together. Without him, I was drifting.

But when summer passed without another word from him... When we reached Driftwoode's capital and still, he did not return... I could no longer deny it.

He had given up on me.

I paced Sylvos' tent like a caged animal. He was currently away for a war meeting. As Beast Warden, I should've been there but the whispers regarding me had gotten so bad, Sylvos began hiding me away from everyone. Admittedly, I was grateful. I was already on the edge with the hole inside me. I didn't want to deal with vultures picking at my wound...

Either way, I was grateful. The silence, though suffocating, was still better than the vultures circling my heart, waiting to tear it apart.

And there was an even bigger problem.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow Pyree would arrive just as I had asked in my letter. I was certain of it. I had full faith in my sister for taming that boy.

The problem was that my plans had changed.

When I first called for Pyree's aid, it was with one goal — to see Thornmont destroyed. To see Sylvos brought to his knees. Yet now, the thought of Pyree crushing his army turned my stomach. I did not want to see him broken. I did not want to watch another take his life.

Somewhere along the way, my useless heart had betrayed me.

I only wanted them to stop him. Sylvos was a conqueror, yes, but he was not reckless. With Pyree's forces pressing from one side and Driftwoode's fleet bristling on the other, even he would see the risk. Two armies against his was a gamble he would not take.

He would back down.

But for that to happen, I needed to make sure Pyree understood.

I would go to the Pyreen camp. I would negotiate, beg if I had to, convince them not to attack. Then I would return and tell Sylvos I had secured a truce. Convince him to let it all go.