Kai set the empty pte down beside him.

  The stone was cold beneath his legs, but he didn’t move. He stared into the fire as if he could find something inside it.

  “Well,” Kai muttered, resting his elbows on his knees as he let out a breath through his nose. “It’s time to take control of that cn, Katherine.”

  Ivark stopped turning the meat.

  He didn’t respond immediately. His fingers paused over the improvised spear as he looked at the fire. Then his eyes shifted toward the hallway that led to the rooms he himself had carved out.

  The uneven wall. The abandoned tools. The ceiling marked by his hands.

  His home.

  Kai noticed.

  Is he going to stay?

  Ivark inhaled slowly through his nose.

  “If it is your will, Master… I will follow you,” Ivark replied, lowering his head slightly as he rested the end of the spear against the ground.

  He didn’t sound happy.

  But he didn’t hesitate either.

  Kai nodded once.

  Good.

  I need strength more than comfort.

  Katherine looked up quickly, gncing first at Ivark and then at Kai. Her ears shifted slightly backward as she slowly stood up.

  Her tail brushed the ground once before going still.

  The forest air greeted them cold and damp as they stepped out of the dungeon. The ground sank beneath their steps again while leaves crunched with every movement.

  Ivark walked behind them.

  His steps were heavier than both of theirs combined.

  Kai turned his head slightly.

  “Do you know where the cn is?” Kai asked, hoping the answer would be different this time.

  Katherine opened her mouth.

  Then closed it.

  She looked around as if expecting the forest to answer for her.

  “No, I already told you, I’m serious,” Katherine admitted, lowering her gaze as she intertwined her fingers in front of her abdomen.

  So she really wasn’t joking.

  I’ll have to test my subordinates… even if they’re my harem.

  Harem?

  What have I become…

  Doesn’t matter.

  I like it.

  “I don’t know where the cn is,” she added quickly, her ears tilting back as she pressed her lips together. “They blindfolded me… and dragged me for several minutes before leaving me where you found me.”

  Ivark tilted his head.

  “They blindfolded you?” Ivark asked, leaning forward slightly as he narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes,” Katherine replied with a short nod.

  Kai watched the ground as he walked.

  Then it wasn’t an expulsion. It was a failed execution.

  His fingers tightened slightly.

  “They tried to kill you,” Kai pointed out, his jaw tensing a little.

  Katherine didn’t respond, but her tail wrapped around her own leg for a second.

  The trees were all the same. Trunks. Roots. Shadow.

  There were no paths. No markings. Nothing to suggest anyone lived there.

  After several minutes, Kai began to notice something.

  Ivark was looking back.

  Not all the time, but every so often.

  Leaving his home.

  A true subordinate left everything behind for me. His house, built with his own hands. That was real loyalty.

  “You can go back if you want,” Kai commented without turning around as he pushed a root aside with his boot.

  Ivark stopped walking for half a second.

  Then moved forward again.

  “No,” Ivark replied, clenching his fists as he fixed his gaze ahead.

  Kai raised an eyebrow.

  “I built that cave because I had no master,” Ivark expined, pcing a hand on his chest as his breathing grew steadier. “Now I do.”

  Katherine gnced at him.

  Her ears twitched slightly.

  Kai didn’t keep walking immediately.

  He turned his head just enough to look at him from the corner of his eye.

  “I didn’t come to take your home,” Kai said calmly, keeping his tone low as he adjusted his pace. “I came to build something bigger.”

  Ivark held his gaze for a second.

  “Then I’ll make it worth it,” Ivark stated, straightening his back as he gripped the spear tighter.

  Kai looked forward again.

  Good.

  That’s loyalty.

  Several more minutes passed.

  Nothing. No smoke. No sounds. No scent.

  The forest remained just as empty.

  “Do you recognize this pce, Katherine? Anything from your cn?” Kai asked, stopping as he observed the surroundings.

  Katherine pressed her lips together.

  “No,” Katherine affirmed, lifting her chin as her tail tensed. “I don’t recognize it.”

  Kai stopped completely.

  Ivark almost bumped into him.

  Something wasn’t right.

  An entire cn can’t just disappear like that.

  Or move that far while torturing someone.

  No noise, no trace of houses or campfires, no feline scent lingering in the air.

  Then he heard it.

  Above.

  A faint rustle.

  Someone moving carefully, trying not to make noise.

  Kai didn’t raise his head immediately.

  He listened again.

  Clearer now.

  He smiled.

  “I found you,” Kai murmured, tilting his head slightly as he fixed his gaze on the treetops.

  Katherine lifted her head sharply.

  “What?” Katherine asked, taking half a step toward him as her ears stood on end.

  Ivark tensed his shoulders.

  “There’s something,” Ivark growled, turning his neck slightly as he spread his stance.

  Kai looked toward the trees.

  Directly.

  “Come out,” Kai ordered, raising his voice while keeping his back straight.

  The forest didn’t respond.

  One second. Two. Three.

  A branch cracked.

  A silhouette dropped from above and nded softly in front of them.

  Feline ears.

  Long tail.

  Violet eyes.

  And behind her, two others descended.

  They formed a line.

  They didn’t attack.

  But they didn’t retreat either.

  The one in the center took a step forward.

  “Katherine,” the stranger said, tilting her head as she pyed with the dagger between her fingers.

  Katherine didn’t respond immediately.

  Her fingers tightened around Kai’s shirt.

  “Do you know her?” Kai asked, shifting his weight slightly forward as he narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes,” Katherine replied quietly, lowering her ears as she looked away.

  “Well, of course you know us,” the leader said.

  The feline in front smiled without showing her teeth.

  “We thought you were dead,” the leader commented, crossing her arms as her tail swayed slowly behind her.

  Ivark stepped forward.

  “Who are you?” Ivark asked, tightening his jaw as he looked from one to another.

  The feline leader looked him up and down.

  “An orc,” she noted, raising an eyebrow as she tightened her grip on the dagger’s handle.

  Kai took half a step forward.

  “They are my cn,” Katherine expined, swallowing as she gnced at Kai from the corner of her eye.