Chapter 4: Really?? Anything??

“Really? Anything?” Ronan repeated, his voice low, mocking.

I nodded slowly, my throat burning from the cold air and the scream I’d barely swallowed minutes ago.

His eyes darkened with amusement. “You always did beg pretty. Some things never change.”

Behind him, Elias chuckled. “She’s filthy,” he said, tilting his head. “Covered in mud. Looks like something the wolves dragged in.”

Darius crouched beside me, fingers brushing the side of my face. I flinched, and he grinned. “Still twitchy.”

“I’ll do it,” I said quickly, voice shaking but firm. “Whatever it is. Just tell me.”

Kael stood behind them all, arms crossed. Silent. Watching. His gaze never left me, but he didn’t move. That was always his thing. He let the others do the talking, the mocking, the tearing apart.

Ronan crouched now, too, matching Darius. Their faces so close I could see the fine lines around their cold eyes, the cruel curve of their mouths.

“You’ll do whatever we say?” Ronan asked again, slower this time.

“Yes.”

Darius leaned in, his breath brushing my cheek. “Even if it’s something you hate?”

My hands curled into fists against the wet ground. “Yes.”

Elias stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. “Even if it makes you cry?”

I hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

They shared a look between them, amused. Like they were passing a private joke back and forth without speaking.

Then Ronan stood up and stretched, his muscles rippling. “She’s changed. Used to scream louder.”

“She’s not screaming now,” Darius said.

“Not yet,” Elias corrected.

“Maybe we should test her,” Ronan said. “See how far she’ll go.”

I opened my mouth, but Kael’s voice cut through the air first.

“Enough.”

The other three paused. Even I did.

Kael stepped forward now, slowly, like he wasn’t in a rush to get involved but finally decided to. His eyes were unreadable. Still cold, but there was something else too. Tired, maybe.

“She said she’d do anything,” he said, looking directly at me. “So she will.”

“But not now,” he added before the others could argue.

Ronan raised an eyebrow. “You’re going soft?”

Kael didn’t answer.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“You think we should wait?” Elias asked, arms crossed now.

Kael nodded. “Let her clean up first. She looks pathetic.”

That stung, even though I’d heard worse from them.

“Go on,” Kael said to me, motioning with a slight jerk of his head. “Get up.”

I forced my shaking legs beneath me and stood. My knees throbbed. My palms were scraped raw. My uniform clung to my skin, soaked in sweat, dirt, and fear.

Ronan watched me rise like I was some kind of slow, broken machine. “She can still stand,” he said with fake surprise. “That’s progress.”

I didn’t speak. I didn’t look at them. I just stared past them—at the fog, the trees, the way the morning light cut through the forest like knives.

“I’ll clean up,” I said quietly.

“Good girl,” Elias mocked. “We like our toys clean.”

I turned and walked away without another word. My steps were uneven, but I kept going. I didn’t run. I didn’t limp. I wouldn’t give them that.

The mansion looked like a dream from hell as I approached it again. Tall and grey and swallowing the sky. My legs nearly gave out on the steps, but I pushed through the door.

The maids looked up when they saw me. One of them gasped. Another turned away.

I didn’t blame them.

I didn’t go to the servant quarters. I went straight to the small washing room behind the kitchen, where the old tub barely held enough water to cover my knees.

I stripped off the torn uniform and stepped into the cold water. My teeth chattered. My skin stung as I scrubbed.

I didn’t cry.

I wouldn’t give them that either.

When I was done, I dressed in the only spare uniform I had and tied my hair back with trembling fingers. I stared at my reflection in the cracked mirror above the basin.

Pale. Hollow-eyed. Still breathing.

That would have to be enough.

Later, when I returned to the main hall, Ronan was waiting.

He sat lazily on the edge of the long table, tossing an apple in the air.

“Took your time.”

I didn’t respond.

He slid off the table and walked over, circling me like a predator. “You look cleaner. That’s good.”

“Kael said I should clean up,” I said carefully.

“Kael says a lot of things.” He took a bite of the apple and chewed slowly, watching me. “You know, you used to be quiet. Meek. Obedient. But there’s something different in you now.”

I stayed silent.

“That’s not a bad thing,” he added after a pause. “We like watching people break slowly. Not all at once. That’s boring.”

I swallowed hard.

Ronan stepped closer, his tone softer now. Almost curious. “Do you remember the last time you cried in front of us?”

“Yes.”

“You were bleeding,” he said, chuckling. “Cried like a kicked puppy.”

I said nothing.

He leaned in, his mouth near my ear. “Don’t worry, Aria. We’ll get that sound out of you again.”

Then he stepped back, as if nothing had happened. “Go to the west wing. Darius wants you there.”

“What for?” I asked.

His grin was wolfish. “Didn’t you say you'd do anything?”