Pearl POV
The clang of metal echoed off the stone walls of the dungeon. The cold seeped into my skin, into my bones, until even my breath felt like frost. My wrists burned from the chains, the weight of the iron biting into bruised skin. My back ached, my legs were trembling, but it wasn’t the physical pain that made my heart stutter.
It was the silence. The waiting.
And the guards.
Three of them entered. Their faces were hidden behind shadows cast by torchlight, but their intentions were not. One of them carried a long, narrow case—its lid creaked open with an ominous sound that sent a chill down my spine. Inside, glints of sharp tools reflected the flames, each more sinister than the last.
I flinched. My instincts screamed at me to run, to vanish, to melt into the shadows and disap
