The royal chambers of the Abyssal Citadel were vast and cold.
High arched ceilings shimmered with cursed starlight. Black silk curtains danced slowly around obsidian pillars, stirred by invisible winds. The grand bed at the center, laced in crimson velvet and thorns, looked like something carved from a god's final breath.
Ethan stood by the doorway, unsure whether to move or speak.
Lilith was already on the bed, lounging as if the entire kingdom was her playground. Her bare shoulders caught the moonlight leaking in from a crack in the demon sky.
"You've survived dinner," she said, flipping a page in a floating, glowing grimoire. "But now we discuss the real conditions of our… marriage."
Ethan crossed his arms. "Let me guess. No escaping. No speaking unless spoken to."
She looked up, amused. "How clever of you. But no. I prefer something a little more... intimate."
She snapped her fingers.
A single pillow dropped to the floor near the edge of her bed.
"That," she said, "is your bed."
Ethan frowned. "You want me to sleep on the floor?"
Her gaze sharpened. "Correction. You will sleep beside me, but never with me."
He hesitated.
Lilith set the grimoire aside and leaned forward, her voice like a cold kiss. "New rules, husband. You are not to touch me. You will not climb onto this bed. You will not speak of love or ask questions about my past."
Ethan clenched his jaw. "Anything else?"
"Yes. You will sleep close. Always within reach. Like a loyal pet. That way, I can keep an eye on you."
She rolled onto her side, facing the wall.
Ethan exhaled sharply and knelt beside the bed, the stone floor biting into his bones. He lay on the single pillow, staring up at the unfamiliar, pulsing glow of the Abyssal ceiling.
What have I gotten myself into? he thought.
The room fell into silence.
Then, something shifted.
A presence.
He turned slightly.
Lilith hadn't fallen asleep.
Her eyes were open—glowing faintly red in the dark.
And they were watching him.
Quiet.
Unmoving.
Studying.
Ethan quickly looked away, but he felt the weight of her gaze long after.
He didn't know what it meant.
But he knew one thing.
The Queen's rules were only the beginning.