The Lie That Sounds Like Mercy-Story Ten -Bound by Dark Series by E.Kane

Mercy arrived dressed as reason.

That should have been the first warning.

The summons came at dawn when the Court was still pretending to sleep. No magic flared. No shadows recoiled. It was quiet in the way things are quiet right before a blade slips between ribs.

Nyx felt it the moment the Empress was still beside him.

“Someone has decided to protect us,” she said calmly.

Nyx exhaled through his nose. “That never ends well.”

They entered the Council Chamber together, side by side, unarmored, unannounced. The Circle was already assembled. Vaelor stood at its center, hands folded, expression composed with the practiced care of someone who believed himself kind.

“Empress,” Vaelor said. “Warrior King.”

Nyx did not miss the order.

Vaelor gestured, and the chamber shifted. A projection bloomed in the air, border maps, trade routes, outlying enclaves. Places where whispers traveled faster than truth.

“The Court has reached a consensus,” Vaelor continued. “Your bond has become… visible.”

The Empress’s gaze did not flicker. “That was inevitable.”

“Visibility invites danger,” Vaelor said gently. “Enemies mistake devotion for leverage.”

Nyx felt the pull then, not from the vow, but from instinct. The urge to step forward. To interpose. To make himself the problem.

He did not move.

“And so,” Vaelor went on, “we offer a solution.”

The projection shifted.

Nyx’s name appeared, etched in cold light, over the outer territories.

“A temporary assignment,” Vaelor said. “Border command. You retain rank. Autonomy. Honor.”

Nyx turned slowly toward him. “And distance.”

Vaelor inclined his head. “Distance is safety.”

“For whom?” Nyx asked.

“For the Empress,” Vaelor replied smoothly. “And for you.”

The Empress spoke then. “Say the rest.”

Vaelor hesitated, just long enough to betray himself.

“The vow remains intact,” he said. “But without proximity, the Court’s concerns will… settle.”

Nyx laughed once. Soft. Humorless.

“You want to quarantine the bond,” he said. “Not protect it.”

Vaelor’s voice softened. “You are dangerous when watched.”

Nyx felt the words try to hook into something old. Shame. Rage. The part of him that had once believed restraint was a leash.

He looked at the Empress.

Not for permission.
For truth.

She met his gaze, steady, furious beneath control.

“This is not mercy,” she said. “It is fear disguised as care.”

Vaelor’s tone sharpened. “Fear keeps empires standing.”

Nyx stepped forward then, not aggressively. Intentionally.

“You want me gone,” he said, “because I didn’t burn when you expected me to.”

The Circle shifted.

Vaelor did not deny it.

“You may choose,” Vaelor said. “Accept the assignment. or force the Court’s hand.”

The lie hung there, polished and patient.

Nyx felt the vow warm, not directing, not restraining. Waiting.

He turned to the Empress.

“If I go,” he said quietly, “it will be because I choose it. Not because they command it.”

Her jaw tightened.

“I will not order you to stay,” she said. “And I will not order you to leave.”

Silence.

Then Nyx nodded once.

“I will go,” he said. “But not as exile. As witness.”

Vaelor smiled, already thinking he’d won.

He hadn’t.

Nyx turned back to the Circle.

“And when I return,” he said evenly, “this Court will answer for mistaking restraint for weakness.”

The projection faded.

The lie had done its work.

But not the way they intended.