Page 6 of Bound to the Dreadlord

"Known what, my lord?" My voice is hoarse, barely above a whisper.

A slow blink, as if my answer is an irritation rather than a surprise. "Your voice," he murmurs. "Your power. How long have you been using it?"

My stomach knots. I force myself to breathe. To think.

Say the wrong thing, and I will die.

Say the wrong thing, and maybeworsewill happen.

"I don’t have power," I answer carefully. "I only sang."

A pause. Then he leans forward slightly, the dim torchlight casting cruel shadows over his sharp cheekbones and the fine line of his mouth. His fingers rest lightly on the arm of his throne, tapping once, twice, a lazy rhythm that does nothing to conceal the tension coiling around him.

"You expect me to believe that?"

I don’t answer because I have no idea what will keep me alive.

His gaze narrows, and then, without breaking eye contact, he lifts a hand.

"Sing."

The word sends an electric pulse through my spine, a command wrapped in silk but heavy as a blade pressed to my throat.

I part my lips, but nothing comes out. Not even a breath of sound.

His silver eyes darken with something unreadable. "Sing, Sera."

My fingers clench into my lap, nails pressing against my skin hard enough to sting.

If I refuse, I will be punished.

If I obey…

I inhale slowly, my pulse hammering like war drums in my ears.

The first note leaves my throat in a whisper, hesitant, barely enough to echo through the cavernous space. But the moment I let it out, something shifts.

I feel it.

Like a ripple in the air, like an invisible force stirring around me.

The torches flicker. The room seems tobreathe, a slow exhale of something unseen, somethingwaiting.

He freezes.

Not a single movement. He barely breathes.

His silver eyes remain locked onto me, his breath suspended, his fingers curling just slightly on the armrest of his throne as though restraining himself from something even he does not understand.

The other dark elves shift uncomfortably, their amusement from earlier vanishing into something colder. Some glance at Veylan, as if searching for permission to react, but he gives none.

He is staring at me like I am an abomination.

I clamp my lips shut abruptly, choking off the melody.

An oppressive silence follows.

I am breathing hard now, my body trembling with a fear I do not fully understand. My voice does things I don’t think possible.

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