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Stellan was watching.

His expression didn’t change. One of his hands turned slowly against the red restraint, palm flattening on his thigh. It wasn’t enough to break the command. It was movement the Crown didn’t ask for.

He was showing me the edge.

The others found their own.

Elias shifted his weight from both hands to one. The young vampire lifted his head. The woman near the windows hooked her fingers around a table leg and pulled until the muscles in her arm stood out.

The Crown used my voice again.

“Accept me, and you will never be driven from your court.”

The words forced their way over my tongue.

I caught the last one.

Not enough to stop it. Enough to blur the final consonant and bite the inside of my cheek.

Blood touched my tongue.

The Crown recoiled from the choice, and my smallest finger lifted.

Once.

Stellan’s chest expanded against the chains.

“Still here,” he said.

The relief in his voice was quieter than the Crown’s promise and stronger than it.

My finger dropped before I could move the next one. The grip on my jaw hardened. Red light lashed across the hall, striking every pale band at once.

Bodies slammed lower.

Mara’s free knee hit the stone.

The Crown poured triumph into me. Both of Mara’s knees were down now. Her head bowed. Dark hair fell across her face, hiding everything except the line of her mouth.

Then her lips moved.

“You keep making the same mistake,” she said.

The Crown turned my eyes towards her.

Mara dragged one boot across the stone.

Her body shook. The pale band around her waist burned brighter, forcing her towards the floor. Elias reached one hand towards her. The band across his shoulders flared before his fingers got close, and the command had left him little strength to spare.

Mara didn’t ask for help.

The sole caught, turning her foot flat and raising one thigh. She planted both hands on it.

The Crown’s hold on my right hand faltered.

Mara pushed against her own thigh and started to stand.

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