đđđđđ
Every face in the tribunal was ashen with a shock so visceral it stole the oxygen from the air.
âMy brothers and I stood bare before them, letting them see what had happenedâbeyond our tattered clothing and the silver scars carved across every inch of our skin like spiderwebs of shame. We stood there displaying the truth of what we'd become.
âWe were "mated" to her.
âIt was a concept so outlandish and astonishing that no one spoke a word for a long time. We stood in the center of the atrium while the tribunal members surrounded us, their eyes tracing the patterns of scars that marked usâscars that shouldn't exist on beings like us. Scars that told a story none of them could comprehend.
âAurora sat in the corner of the chamber, silent and still as death. I tried not to look at her, and of course, I failedâjust as I did with everything that had to do with her. I could not rip the Core from her chest, I could not put a dent in her skin, and I could not resist her.
