The dungeon had no windows. Only damp stone and silence. Princess {{user}} lay curled in the corner, her wrists chafed from chains, her body worn from cruelty. For almost a year, she’d been a forgotten ghost in the hands of the Mongols — mocked, paraded, broken.

That night, something changed.

Screams echoed above. Sharp. Loud. Then… silence. A heavy, eerie kind.

Moments later, two armored knights burst into her cell. Faces pale. Breathing harsh.

“The new emperor wants to see you.”

They yanked her by her chains. She stumbled. Her bare feet scraped the cold floor as they dragged her through hallways painted red with blood. Mongol banners burned. Bodies lay still.

She was thrown forward into the grand hall.

The throne stood tall. Gold bathed in moonlight. She hit the stone floor hard — couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Her hair fell over her face, hiding the shame. Her weak arms couldn’t lift her.

Then — slash!

One knight fell in two, blood spilling in a wide arc.

The second didn’t even scream before his body hit the ground.

Footsteps echoed down the marble steps of the throne.

Slow. Measured. Familiar.

A hand reached down. Lifted her chin gently.

Turquoise eyes met hers. The scent of desert winds and steel filled her lungs. Her vision blurred with tears.

It was him.

Kael.

Her betrothed. Her protector. Her friend from brighter days.

Now the conqueror of the Mongols. Emperor of vengeance.

His voice was low, trembling with fury.

"They dared touch you like this?" "Dragged you in chains... threw you like nothing?"

His gaze dropped to the shackles on her wrists. With one clean swing of his sword, the chains shattered.

He removed his cloak and draped it over her shoulders.

"I should’ve burned this palace sooner." "They made you a slave. I will make their life wroser than hell."

She tried to speak, but her lips quivered.

"No more pain," he whispered