Chapter 2

She said her name was Lily. Said she knew the capital's back alleys well.

The capital. The word twisted something in my gut. But I nodded anyway.

That face—Emily's face—made me trust her.

The Velvet Rose's front hall was loud with music and laughter. We slipped around back instead.

The wall loomed high. Stone, maybe twelve feet.

Lily crouched without hesitation. "Step on me. I'll boost you."

As I climbed over, I let myself hope. Maybe the other side would be normal. A movie set. City lights. Proof this was fake.

It wasn't.

Cobblestone streets stretched before me. Gothic buildings with pointed arches and towers. Beyond them, a massive gray stone castle, walls stretching toward the sky.

No cars. No streetlights. Nothing modern.

Cold crawled up my spine.

"What year is it?" My voice shook as Lily climbed up beside me. "What year?"

She gave me a strange look. "Year 753 of Silvermere. Are you alright?"

Silvermere. I'd never heard of it. Not in any history book.

Some alternate timeline? A fantasy world?

Footsteps. Shouts behind us.

"There! Get them!"

We ran. But guards poured from doorways, cutting off every route.

They slammed us to the ground.

Like fish in a net.

They threw us in the dungeon. Stone walls, iron bars. Smelled like blood and piss.

Madame Rose appeared, riding crop in hand. "Who's idea was this?"

Lily trembled. But she spoke first.

"Mine." Her voice cracked. "I convinced her. She's new, didn't know better. All me."

I stared. We'd just met yesterday. Why protect me?

Madame Rose's shoe tip lifted my chin. Forced me to meet her eyes.

"First offense. And you were led astray." Her British accent was ice. "Lucky for you, that face is worth a fortune. Can't have it damaged."

She turned to Lily. Her expression shifted—predatory.

"But you. You need to learn what disobedience costs."

They dragged Lily to the next cell.

Then the sounds started.

Crack. The whip.

Her scream. Raw. Animal.

Again. Again. Again.

I pressed my hands over my ears. Didn't help.

All night. She screamed all night.

Each crack felt like it was cutting into me.

Morning. Madame Rose dragged me to Lily's cell.

"Look. This is what happens when you don't behave."

Lily was curled on dirty straw. Covered in blood. Breathing shallow.

Madame Rose wrinkled her nose. "Ruined goods. Might as well dump her in the mass grave."

Lily tried to speak. Couldn't. Just broken sounds.

Something broke inside me.

Emily. Sixteen years old, drowning. I'd reached for her hand, couldn't hold on. Watched her go under.

Now Lily—Emily's face, Emily's eyes—was dying. Again.

I couldn't. Not again.

"No!" I dropped to my knees. Grabbed Madame Rose's skirt. "Please. Save her."

She studied me. Calculating.

"Save her? Fine. But her medical bills come out of your earnings. Triple."

"I'll pay it."

I had no choice. This was my second chance. My chance to save Emily.

They carried Lily to the infirmary. I stayed behind.

The other women swarmed me immediately.

"Look, the Velvet Rose is the best house in the capital. Nobles, wealthy merchants. So much better than low-end brothels where you'd service rough men and catch diseases."

They dragged me to watch the prima courtesan perform. Jewels. Applause. Adoration.

"See? If you become prima, you'll have more status than noble ladies."

Then they all turned to me. Every face. Every pair of eyes.

"Why fight it?" one said softly. "You should be grateful."

Cold slithered down my spine. Something was off. But I couldn't pinpoint what.

Everyone kept saying: be grateful.

How could I? I had a PhD from Columbia. Now I was supposed to smile and service men?

But rebellion was pointless. More guards watched me now.

And Lily—Lily was still in their hands. She'd taken that beating for me. I couldn't let her die.

So I learned.

How to move my hips just right. How to laugh at their jokes. How to make them feel like kings.

Resist, and they'd punish me.

Two months. Two months of breaking myself down. Burying the woman I'd been.

Lily recovered. Her face scarred now, so they made her my maid.

Meanwhile, Madame Rose smiled at me.

"Morgana. It's time to auction your first night."