CHAPTER 83: REUNION

Aria moved swiftly through the halls, each step echoing with urgency, her bare feet slapping against the cold stone, her body wrapped in the long coat she had barely managed to throw over herself.

Her hair clung to the back of her neck with sweat, her heartbeat drumming in her ears. The guards at her door didn’t dare stop her, though they exchanged uneasy glances at the haunted look in her eyes. She didn’t look at them. Couldn’t. Her mind was a storm, her thoughts consumed with a single, obsessive urge: to scrub Zyren from her body, to cleanse herself until her skin bled if she had to.

But the moment she shoved open her door, everything inside her ground to a halt.

Her breath caught. Her vision tunneled.

There, sitting on the edge of her bed, was a girl with red hair.

Not just any red. A red Aria would’ve known even in the dark. A red that had once gleamed like fire under the sun—wild, vibrant, impossible to tame. But now it hung limp, brushed and neat but without life, as though shackled by invisible chains.

Liora.

Aria didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Her sister was still. Too still. Her posture too upright, too careful, like someone had been scolded for slouching one too many times. She stared at nothing with wide, vacant eyes, arms folded stiffly in her lap. Her dress looked clean. Her skin carefully washed. But the bruises peeking from under the neckline of her gown and trailing her forearms were old and dark, yellowing at the edges—ugly remnants of unspoken violence.

What broke Aria most were her eyes—void of warmth or spark, as though someone had hollowed her out from within and left only the shell behind.

It was like staring at a corpse that hadn’t realized it was dead.

Aria’s heart cracked wide open.

"Liora," she breathed, a name too familiar to not be spoken so softly, disbelief laced with the sound of tears. Her hands trembled violently as she took a step forward. "Liora—!"

But the name had barely left her lips when Liora suddenly moved.

A flash of movement—feral, desperate—and a jagged shard of wood appeared from under her skirt. Her head low as she reacted by slashing at the hand which came closer to her. A strangled scream caught in her throat, eyes wild, hands shaking as she lunged toward Aria with the strength of someone who had spent far too long being prey.

Aria gasped, stumbling back, hands flying up in instinct to shield herself. "Liora!—"

But just as quickly as it began, Liora froze—frozen mid-swing, breath hitching, eyes locked on Aria’s face.

Or more specifically... her hair.

Her pupils trembled. Her lips parted in a soft, confused gasp. Her gaze traced over Aria’s features—her jawline, her cheekbones, her mouth—until a flicker of recognition cracked through her expression like lightning splitting a frozen lake.

She dropped the wood.

It clattered to the floor with a soft, heart-stopping sound, forgotten the instant it left her hand.

"Aria...?" she whispered.

Aria couldn’t take it anymore. She rushed forward and pulled her sister into her arms with a cry that came from the deepest pit in her chest.

Liora didn’t move at first. Her body remained stiff as stone, unresponsive. But then—slowly, painfully—as if the warmth of her sister’s arms was a balm reaching deep into her soul, she broke.

A sound tore from her throat—raw and primal and human—and she collapsed against Aria, sobbing uncontrollably. Her fingers clawed into Aria’s coat, her nails digging into her back, clinging like a drowning child desperate for air.

Aria buried her face in Liora’s hair, her own tears falling in rivers as she rocked her sister back and forth.

"I thought you were dead," Aria sobbed, clutching her tighter, kissing her temple, her cheek, her forehead in frantic desperation. "I thought—I thought I lost you forever—"

But Liora couldn’t speak. Her voice was broken by sobs, the kind that ripped through her ribs and bent her body forward, stealing the air from her lungs. She convulsed in Aria’s arms, trembling violently with the force of it, her whole body remembering every bruise, every cruel hand.

She wailed into Aria’s chest until her face was soaked and swollen, until her throat was hoarse, until no more sound came out—only dry, shuddering gasps.

Aria held her through it all. Until the shaking dulled. Until her sobs faded into hiccups and silence. Until her weight slumped heavy into her arms like a ragdoll drained of will.

They crumpled onto the bed in a tangled heap, Aria still holding her as if letting go would mean losing her all over again.

"Liora..." Aria whispered, brushing her sister’s matted hair behind her ear. "What happened? How... how did you end up at the slave auction? What happened after—after that night?"

She stopped herself, lips trembling.

But the question forced its way out anyway.

"Is Mother...?"

Liora’s eyes flickered. She didn’t speak.

Her face twisted again, crumpling in slow agony. Tears rolled fresh down her cheeks. She shook her head once, hard—but it wasn’t denial. It was the kind of shake that came from someone who couldn’t find the words to explain the pain.

That silence was enough. It screamed louder than any words ever could.

Aria felt something cold coil through her chest. Her jaw tightened as her eyes welled.

"Selira..." she whispered, her mother’s name a ghost on her tongue. She didn’t ask again. There was no point.

She just held her sister tighter, nails digging into her own palm behind Liora’s back, as if drawing her own blood might anchor her.

"I should have been there," Aria choked. "I should have found you sooner. I should have—should have done something—"

Minutes passed like that. Breathing. Clutching. Drowning.

Then Liora stirred. She lifted her head slowly, voice hoarse and broken.

"Are you a slave too?" she asked, blinking through swollen lids. "Do you have... a master?"

Aria froze. Her breath hitched.

Liora’s gaze searched her face, and what she saw there filled her with horror.

"Did he—did he force you too?"

Aria opened her mouth. Closed it. The words wouldn’t come.

The silence between them stretched, heavy and awful.

"I fought," Liora said suddenly, bitter and fast, as if she couldn’t bear the silence. "I fought as hard as I could. They told me if I screamed again, they’d throw me to the demons in the pits."

Her fists trembled in her lap. "I tried biting my tongue. Pretending to be mad. Thought maybe they wouldn’t want me then—but they laughed. Said I’d sell better that way."

Aria swallowed down bile. Her stomach twisted so violently it hurt.

"I was separated from Mother. She went to get food. And... and..."

Her voice cracked.

"There were men," she continued, faster now. "So many. Some just stared. Others touched. One of them said I’d look prettier with a broken jaw. Another tried to cut my hair off with a knife."

She gave a hollow laugh. "One man said he’d slice out my womb so no human could ever breed me again—said then I’d be worthless."

Aria’s chest heaved. Her nails drew blood from her palms as she grabbed Liora’s face.

"I swear to you," she said, her voice trembling with fury, "I’ll kill them all. Every single one who touched you. I don’t care who they are—I’ll make them bleed."

Liora looked down.

"But you... you’re here. With him. The king. He bought you too?"

"That’s why we’re in here?" she asked, looking around. "This is his castle?"

"We are his slaves?"

"No!" Aria said quickly, shaking her head. "It’s complicated but you are free!." But Aria had barely spoken when Liora set a look of suspicion on her. "That’s impossible!"

"I made a deal!" Aria responded only to see a look of shock appear on Liora’s face. "He forced you! You didn’t want it!"

Liora’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. Her voice was sharp and insistent. "You didn’t say yes either! You had no choice in the--"

Aria flinched. "No. I didn’t" cut her off before she could finish even though a part of her thought otherwise.

She exhaled shakily. "He treats me like a pet. A possession. Sometimes I think he..."

She didn’t finish. She couldn’t.

Liora’s gaze drifted down, spotting the way Aria had limped earlier, the bruising along her thigh that peeked beneath the edge of the coat.

"He hurts you," she said flatly, fury darkening her voice.

Aria lowered her head, tears springing up again. "Yes," she whispered. "He does. He—he killed Father. And our brother."

Liora went still. Her entire body locked.

Her already-reddened eyes grew glassy again, as fresh tears welled up and spilled over.

"You lie," she gasped—but the pain on her face betrayed her. She already knew. She just didn’t want to believe it.

"No," Aria said, voice breaking. "I saw it happen."

Liora let out a shattered sob and slammed her fists into the bed, shaking her head. "No! No! Not them too!"

She clawed at the mattress, like she could tear away the truth itself. "Why—why would he—what did we ever do?"

"I don’t know," Aria choked, pulling her close again. "I don’t know why—but I will make him pay."

"I want to help," Liora rasped. "If we can kill him—if we can destroy all of them—I want to help."

Aria nodded slowly, tears glistening in her eyes. "We will. We’ll kill them all. And we’ll find Mother. I got separated from her—she might still be alive."

Liora leaned her forehead against Aria’s. "I thought I’d never see you again."

"I thought I was the only one left," Aria whispered.

They sat in silence, fingers tangled, nails biting into skin, as if afraid this reunion was just a dream.

Two broken sisters, wrapped in each other’s pain, their hearts stitched together by grief.

And for the first time in so long... they weren’t alone.