The moment Keth's fingers closed around the creature's wrist, time fractured.
The ruined hall melted like wax. The vortex collapsed inward with a sound like shattering crystal. Keth felt their bones turn to liquid, their blood to fire—
Then solid ground beneath them again.
They knelt in a circle of pale sand, hand still gripping the creature's wrist. Except now she looked almost human: a tall woman with golden eyes, no crowns in sight, her dark hair streaked with silver.
Valtheris lay gasping nearby, his broken blade now dust.
The woman—the creature—looked down at Keth's grip on her wrist. When she spoke, her voice was softer. "You should not have been able to do that."
Keth didn't let go. "You're not the only thief here."
A slow blink. Then, unexpectedly, she laughed. "No. I suppose not."
Valtheris dragged himself upright. "Keth. Whatever you're doing—"
"I'm making a deal." Keth held the creature's gaze. "You wanted freedom. I'll give it to you."
The golden eyes narrowed. "At what price?"
Keth touched their scar with their free hand. "You walk this world wearing only your own face. No more stolen skins. No more Marks."
The air hummed with something ancient. The creature went very still. "And?"
"And," Keth said, "you help us clean up your mess."
For the first time in centuries, the creature looked surprised. Then amused. "You want to leash me with my own word."
"No." Keth finally released her wrist. "I'm asking you to choose."
The silence stretched. Somewhere beyond the circle of sand, a bird sang.
The creature—the woman—smiled. It was almost gentle. "You are unlike the others."
Valtheris made a choked noise. "You can't possibly be considering—"
She turned her golden eyes on him. "Your bloodline always did talk too much." Then, to Keth: "I accept your terms."
A wind rose from nowhere, swirling the pale sand around them. When it cleared, the woman held out her hand. On her palm lay a single crimson thread—the last remnant of the Mark.
"One final lesson, little heir," she said. "All prisons are choices in the end."
Keth took the thread.
It burned to ash in their grasp.