The chamber fell silent.

  Candles flickered low, their fmes mellowed into a gentle golden hue. The earlier frenzy of breaths and tangled limbs eased into a nguid calm. Sheets wrapped around them in damp twists, holding the lingering heat.

  Liora sprawled partly over Celeste, an arm slung across her waist, cheek pressed close to her shoulder. Her fingers sketched zy trails on Celeste's skin, that usual restless fire tempered into something softer, almost foreign to her.

  Celeste swept a damp strand from Liora's face.

  “You liked that, didn’t you…?”

  Liora’s lips curved slightly.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  Celeste smiled, her tone warm and teasing.

  “You felt so good.”

  Liora huffed a quiet ugh.

  “Need to try that on Noa.”

  Celeste actually ughed then, a sound that rarely escaped her inside these walls.

  “Go right ahead,” she said. “Surprise her.”

  Liora smirked faintly at the thought. Noa would try to keep her composure for about three seconds before losing it entirely. The image alone made the corner of her mouth lift.

  But then the smile faded.

  Her fingers stopped moving.

  She shifted slightly against Celeste, her voice quieter.

  “Celeste…?”

  “Yes.”

  Liora stared at the ceiling for a moment before speaking again.

  “The Room.”

  Celeste waited.

  “The summons. Him.” Liora’s jaw tightened slightly. “I don’t think I can just walk in there and submit.”

  Celeste didn’t answer immediately.

  Instead she turned slightly so Liora could see her face clearly.

  “You think that’s what’s expected?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Celeste shook her head slowly.

  “No.”

  Liora frowned.

  “That’s not how anyone talks about it.”

  “That’s because most people only see what happens after,” Celeste said. “Not what it feels like the first time.”

  Liora studied her.

  “You’re telling me everyone walked in there calm and obedient?”

  Celeste let out a quiet breath that almost resembled a ugh.

  “Not even close.”

  Liora raised an eyebrow.

  “The Mistress?” she asked.

  Celeste smiled faintly.

  “Especially not the Mistress.”

  “And Marisol?”

  “Well, she was...different. She was chosen for a certain purpose, so she was a little more submissive. ”

  Liora tilted her head.

  “You?”

  Celeste met her gaze.

  “At first, I was over confident, but then I was put in pce.”

  Liora stared at her for a moment, searching for irony or exaggeration and finding neither.

  “But you always look…” she hesitated, “…untouchable.”

  Celeste’s smile softened.

  “That came ter.”

  Liora shifted slightly, propping herself up on one elbow.

  “Then what actually happens in there?” she asked. “Because everyone makes it sound like some ritual surrender.”

  Celeste shook her head again.

  “It isn’t surrender the way you think.”

  Liora watched her closely.

  “The Room doesn’t take your power,” Celeste said quietly. “It shows you the parts of yourself you don’t actually control.”

  Liora’s jaw tightened.

  “I control myself.”

  Celeste pced her hand over Liora’s.

  “You control your reactions,” she said gently. “Your anger. Your strength. Your pride.”

  Liora didn’t deny it.

  “That’s how you survive,” Celeste continued. “You build armor around everything.”

  “And he breaks it?” Liora asked.

  Celeste shook her head.

  “No.”

  That answer surprised her.

  “He doesn’t fight you,” Celeste said softly. “He doesn’t overpower you. He simply refuses to move around your defenses.”

  Liora frowned slightly.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Celeste held her gaze.

  “In that room, you won’t be forced,” she said. “You won’t be humiliated.”

  A pause.

  “You’ll be seen.”

  Liora looked away first.

  “…And if I don’t like what he sees?”

  Celeste’s expression softened.

  “Then you’ll be like every one of us the first time.”

  Liora y back again, staring at the ceiling.

  Her chest rose and fell slowly.

  “…I’m not good at kneeling.”

  Celeste smiled faintly.

  “I know.”

  Liora gnced at her.

  “And if he expects me to just walk in there and bow… that’s not happening.”

  Celeste studied her for a moment, the way one studies the horizon before a storm breaks.

  “No,” she said quietly. “It won’t.”

  Liora frowned.

  “What does that mean?”

  Celeste’s voice softened.

  “It means no one here expects you to kneel.”

  She brushed her fingers lightly along Liora’s shoulder.

  “But you will walk in.”

  Liora’s jaw tightened.

  “And if I don’t?”

  Celeste’s smile returned, calm and knowing.

  “Then you’ll be the first woman in this house to run from something meant for her.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  Liora stared at the ceiling, irritation flickering across her face.

  “…That’s a dirty way to frame it.”

  Celeste ughed quietly.

  “Yes. It is.”

  Another quiet moment passed.

  Then Liora shifted closer, resting fully against her again.

  “…Stay a minute.”

  Celeste wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “I will.”

  And for the first time since the summons had begun echoing through the halls, Liora stopped trying to solve it.

  She simply y there in the warm glow of the candles, letting the quiet settle around her.