A soft knock on her door made Valentina look up from her notes.
"Come in," she said quietly.
Innogen slipped through the door, carrying a small linen-wrapped parcel in her hands.
"I thought you might need this." She sat down on Valentina's narrow bed and handed her the package. "My father sent it to me, but I want you to have i...
2025-10-30 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Valley Health Clinic was so inconspicuous that Chloe walked right past it at first. The sign above the door was very discreet, just "Health Clinic" in simple white letters on a blue background. No neon lights, no flashy advertising, very unusual...
2025-10-30 06:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chloe turned off the alarm clock at 9 a.m. after it rang only once and practically jumped out of bed onto her yoga mat. She went through her morning routine with some nervous energy this time, compressing the usual twenty minutes into ten before get...
2025-10-29 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Back at the apartment, Chloe dropped the shopping bags next to the door. The cheap high heels landed with a thud on the stained carpet.
She took her laptop out of her bag and opened it on the sagging bed. It was old, a hand-me-down from Samant...
2025-10-29 06:12:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The bus spat Chloe out into a cloud of heat and exhaust fumes.
The Valley City bus station was a sea of cracked asphalt and noise. Pigeons pecked among overflowing trash cans. A loudspeaker crackled and croaked announcements that no one unders...
2025-10-28 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chloe's hand hovered over the newspaper clipping for a moment, unsure whether to take it with her. Then she withdrew her hand.
No. There was nothing in it that she didn't already know. She had read it again and again in the almost three years...
2025-10-28 06:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostHello my dear supporters!
Over the last few months, whenever I had some spare time, I have written another story. It first began as a passion project and I wasn't sure I was going to actually share this story, but now that I've gotten into it a bit, I decided I want to have some eyes on it. And obviously you are the people I'd like to se...
The next few days were a heyday for rumors and all the gossips in town were having the time of their lives. Valentina sat silently in the corner of the Burning Quill, sipping her ale as she amplified the hastily whispered conversations around her with her Essence Listening.
"I swear by the flame of the Martyr," a market woman hissed to her...
2025-10-26 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostFaustus' cell was at the other end of the corridor. Valentina had to take out two more guards with her pattern before she reached the heavy iron door.
The door swung open with a soft creak. Faustus crouched on a narrow cot, his expensive nightgown torn and bloodstained. His face was marked by blows, but nowhere near as badly battered as Gl...
2025-10-23 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhen it got dark, Valentina wrapped her darkest cloak around her and pulled the hood low over her face. She had bought the cloak at the market a few months ago to get incognito to Violet Delights – a simple but well-made piece without any conspicuous features. Perfect for not standing out at night.
"A few extra precautions can't hurt...
2025-10-19 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostA black… thing… shot out of the shadows, so fast that it was barely more than a dark streak in the air. Valentina felt the back of her neck tense – she knew this cat, but not like this. Not in this form.
It was still a normal-sized cat, but any natural movement had given way to an abnormal smoothness. Its eyes glowed with an inner, h...
2025-10-16 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn't that she was ignoring the noise outside, it was more that she was distracted. Because suddenly she remembered. Remembered the ritual gone wrong that had bound her and Vyxara together.
The crucial words of the ritual echoed through her head, crystal clear, as if she had just spoken them yesterday: "You must not communicate with he...
2025-10-12 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostEastwald lay relaxed on the bed, his naked body half covered by a sheet, the skin of his back covered in scourge marks, but he really was a changed man – the stern, ascetic mask had given way to an almost boyish relaxation.
"More wine," he demanded, holding out his goblet to Valentina. She poured generously.
"And the dried fruit," ...
2025-10-09 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt was raining again. At least it was a little warmer now, which meant they were finally rid of the damn sleet that had plagued them all winter.
She hurried through the dusky streets of Bridgewater on her way to Violet Delights, her cloak pulled tightly around her shoulders. The narrow streets were almost deserted – in this weather, most...
2025-10-05 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Valentina came into the Red Room, she immediately saw that Faustus was in terrible shape. He was crouched on the edge of the bed, tapping his foot, his expensive doublet rumpled, his hair in disarray, as if he had been running his fingers through it nervously over and over again.
"Lily," he gasped and jumped up. His movements were err...
2025-10-02 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Valentina arrived at the dining room the next morning, students stood in small groups, their heads together, nervously whispering.
"Val!" Crispin rushed towards her, his face pale with excitement. "They've found it!"
"What do you mean?" Valentina forced herself to calm down as her heart skipped a beat. What had happened now?
... 2025-09-28 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostShe sat astride him, his manhood deep inside her, her hands braced on his chest, and when she looked down into his face, she still caught herself thinking about how her life had actually come to this point.
"Say it," Faustus gasped beneath her. His hands gripped her hips, pulling her deeper onto him. "Say you're sorry."
Valentina bit...
2025-09-25 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina watched uncertainly as Faustus tried to regain his composure. His hands were still shaking slightly as he wiped the tears from his face.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know what... that was just... very intense."
"Oh, that's delicious," Vyxara purred. "He's apologizing to you because he got emotional, not be...
2025-09-21 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post"I didn't think that illusion stuff would work so well. You look exactly like her," Faustus said.
At first, Valentina thought she had misheard him. Faustus was still grinning in the doorway of the Red Room, his broad face beaming with triumph – but his words made no sense.
"Oh!" Vyxara's cackling laughter sounded through V...
2025-09-18 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe news spread like wildfire through the university one evening – the Illuminator had searched Professor Horne's private library again and found a hidden collection of erotic literature. Worse still were his handwritten fantasies about female students, which he had scribbled in the margins of the books.
"They found several notebooks," C...
2025-09-14 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next few weeks, Valentina was constantly amazed at how quickly one got used to new circumstances – a deeply human trait, as Vyxara assured her.
Her days had settled into a new routine despite the oppression of normal university life by the Illuminator and his people. In the mornings she attended her lectures, in the afternoons s...
2025-09-11 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Valentina entered the library the next morning, she immediately sensed that something had happened again. The already very subdued atmosphere was now full of nervous tension. Students whispered in the corners, but fell silent abruptly when someone walked past.
"Did you hear that?" A first-year student leaned across the table to his fr...
2025-09-04 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostValentina stood outside an elegant townhouse in one of Bridgewater's better neighborhoods. The Violet Delights was very different from the usual brothels in the city – there were no glaring lanterns, no drunken men standing around outside the door or lurking in the shadows. Instead, the three-story building made of solid brick exuded a refined...
2025-08-31 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina turned the precious vials in her hands. The Essence shimmered in them like liquid moonlight. Two vials – that might get her through the next two weeks if she used them sparingly. But then what?
"A worryingly low supply," Vyxara remarked. "Especially given the fact that your usual sources have dried up."
...
2025-08-28 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe following days blurred into a repetitive cycle of care, short breaks and constant worry. Valentina and Innogen shared the tasks – while one rested, the other watched over Crispin.
Valentina used all her knowledge from Dusktown. She had recreated the sterilizing effect of the modified Greystone Cascade on a smaller scale, a fine mesh ...
2025-08-24 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostIcy sleet drove the students into the buildings, where they huddled around fireplaces and stoves, freezing.
"Appropriate weather for these gloomy times," Vyxara murmured in Valentina's mind.
Valentina pulled her coat tighter around her as she hurried through the cold corridors. Everywhere, students huddled in small groups, s...
2025-08-21 17:12:02 +0000 UTC View PostOn the seventh day after Eastwald's arrival, Valentina found a parchment note on the outside of her door. With cool precision, the formal handwriting informed her that she was to report to the questioning room at noon. No explanation, no polite phrases – just a direct instruction, sealed with the stylized flame symbol of the Illumination.
<... 2025-08-17 17:12:18 +0000 UTC View PostNews of the room searches quickly spread through the university like wildfire. Valentina heard the first rumors at lunch – students whispering about Emberwardens ransacking rooms, slashing mattresses, confiscating books and destroying personal belongings.
"They took all of Oleanne's correspondence with her betrothed," a third-year studen...
2025-08-14 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostBy midday, one of the auditoriums on the first floor, normally a place of lively debate about Essence Theory, had been transformed into what everyone assumed to be basically a torture chamber. The Emberwardens had pushed the benches and tables against the walls and turned the room into a makeshift interrogation room. Heavy curtains had been draw...
2025-08-10 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostThey were in the middle of breakfast when a sudden commotion at the entrance interrupted them. The conversations in the dining room fell silent as heads turned towards the door. The normal breakfast chatter died away and was replaced by an unnatural silence.
The large door opened with deliberate slowness, the old hinges groaning in protest...
2025-08-07 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post