The underground chambers of Darkheart Castle were not built.
They were carved.
Not by hands alone.but by time, punishment, and forgotten wars.
Deep beneath the throne, where even sound hesitated to travel, Merion Mason was brought down the stone spiral steps.
Each step echoed like a countdown.
Not to his judgment.
To his unraveling.
He was no longer carried like a noble.
No longer addressed like a lord.
He was simply a body that still remembered its name.
Blood stained his lips.
One arm hung unnaturally still.
Yet his eyes remained open.
Because something inside him refused to accept that this was the end.
The Executioners stopped in front of an iron door engraved with sealing runes.
Sirius stood there waiting.
He did not look at Merion immediately.
Instead, he looked at the door.
As if it was familiar.
As if it remembered him too.
"Open it" Sirius said.
The door unlocked without keys.
Magic responded instantly to his authority.
Inside...
the chamber was empty except for a single chair bound with rune chains.
And a circle carved into the floor.
Old.
Older than the castle itself.
Merion was thrown into the chair.
CLANG.
Chains snapped into place immediately, wrapping around wrists, chest, neck.
He tried to move.
The chains tightened.
Not painfully.
But precisely.
Like they knew exactly how much resistance to allow before breaking something important.
Merion laughed weakly.
"…so this is it."
Sirius finally stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
The sound felt final.
"No" Sirius said.
"This is the part where you decide how long you remain aware."
Merion spat blood on the floor.
"Then get it over with."
Sirius studied him for a moment.
Then spoke
"Who did you sell the information to?"
Merion hesitated.
A reflex.
A habit of survival.
Sirius noticed instantly.
"You are protecting them" Sirius said quietly.
Merion laughed again.
"You think I had a choice?"
Sirius stepped closer.
"No one forces betrayal."
A pause.
"Only fear does."
Merion's expression shifted slightly.
That hit something deeper.
For a moment, his arrogance cracked.
Sirius continued.
"Tell me the name."
Silence.
Then...
a whisper.
"…Virel."
Sirius did not react.
He already knew that name.
"Lie again" Sirius said.
The chains tightened slightly.
Merion grunted in pain.
"I'm not lying!"
Sirius tilted his head.
"You are omitting."
A pause.
"Who touched your mind, Merion?"
That question froze him.
For the first time...
real fear entered his face.
"…no" he muttered.
Sirius stepped closer.
"Say it."
Merion's breathing became unstable.
"No one touched me."
Sirius crouched slightly in front of him.
Their eyes met.
One calm.
One breaking.
"You were not bribed" Sirius said slowly.
"You were not threatened."
"You were guided."
Merion shook his head violently.
"Stop!"
Sirius continued anyway.
"Your decisions were not your own at the end."
A silence heavier than pain followed.
Then Sirius said the name softly:
"Venenum."
The chamber temperature dropped.
Merion went completely still.
Not because of chains.
Because of recognition.
"…no" he whispered.
"No no no!"
Sirius stood.
"You remember."
Merion's voice cracked.
"That's not real."
Sirius turned slightly.
"Everything is real when it enters your bloodstream."
Merion's breathing became erratic.
"You're lying."
Sirius's voice hardened slightly.
"Then explain the gap in your memory before the betrayal."
Silence.
That was enough.
Merion's head dropped slightly.
"…I saw him" he whispered.
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"Where."
"A cave…"
His voice broke further.
"In the west ruins…"
A pause.
"I didn't go there."
Sirius remained still.
"You did."
Merion shook his head desperately.
"I remember fighting on the battlefield… then..."
His eyes widened.
"…then nothing."
Sirius straightened.
"Poison gods do not control the body."
A pause.
"They rewrite decision pathways."
Merion looked up.
Sweating now.
Terrified now.
"You're saying…"
Sirius finished it for him.
"You were never the traitor."
Silence.
That sentence shattered something inside Merion completely.
"…then why am I being executed?" he whispered.
Sirius turned fully toward him.
"Because the kingdom does not judge intent."
A pause.
"It removes outcomes."
Merion laughed weakly again.
But it sounded hollow now.
"Of course it does…"
Then his voice dropped.
"…so I'm just collateral."
Sirius did not answer.
Because the truth did not require comfort.