Five seconds was nothing in the Dominion.
Five seconds was enough time for a blade to cross a room, for a crest to lock a throat, for a lie to become law.
In the narrow service throat, Astra watched the countdown burn in cold white at the edge of her vision like a fuse.
HOUSE VEYRN EMERGENCY OVERRIDE: ACCEPTED — IF CUSTODIAN DOES NOT CONFIRM IN 00:00:05
Behind them, stone shuddered. A seam cracked with patient force—Hounds pressing their weight into the Underchain like it belonged to them. The air tasted cleaner by the second, and Astra's collar pulsed in small hungry beats as if it could smell authority coming.
Kael's breath was harsh in the dark. His hand was at Astra's waist—asked for, steady—keeping her upright as the tunnel sloped. He didn't touch her throat. Didn't touch the damp wrap. He held her like she was a choice he refused to turn into a handle.
Astra hated that it made her body warm anyway.
00:00:04
Orin hissed from ahead, voice low and ugly. "Don't stop. Don't talk."
Juno stumbled behind Orin, disk in hand, eyes wide, jaw set like she was preparing to bite stone.
Astra's interface flickered with the pressure of competing claims—Dominion command, House Veyrn ownership, Guild witnessing—threads tightening, ready to snap into something "safe" and clean.
And now the prompt wasn't aimed at Astra.
It was aimed at Kael.
SPOKEN CONFIRMATION REQUIRED: "YES."
Kael's throat worked. His jaw clenched until the muscle jumped.
He could feel it too—the system tugging at his reflexes, the recall residue still trying to make his knees dip. The military conduit bone behind them remembered "down," and it wanted to hear "yes."
Astra leaned closer, close enough that her breath warmed the corner of his mouth, and whispered their anchor like a vow.
"Black water."
Kael answered instantly, rough and present. "Black water."
Heat flared low in Astra's belly—sharp, ugly, alive—because even with the leash screaming, he chose a word that belonged to them.
00:00:03
Kael's eyes met Astra's in the dark. Furious. Honest. Scared in a way he hated admitting.
"If I say yes," he rasped, "they pull me. If I don't—he pulls you."
Dorian's silk voice curled through Astra's collar, amused and intimate. "Let him hesitate. I adore hesitation."
Astra's teeth clenched.
"Kael," Astra whispered, voice low and steady, "consent to a plan that feels like poison."
Kael didn't blink. "Yes."
Astra swallowed blood and forced the plan into shape.
"The escrow is still mine in part," she whispered. "But the system is treating the 'recipient' as a handle everyone can grab. If you accept it, you become the handle."
Kael's jaw flexed. "I don't want to be anyone's handle."
"I know," Astra said.
Her voice softened into something dangerously intimate.
"That's why you only take it long enough to deny him."
Kael's breathing shuddered.
Astra leaned in closer—almost a kiss, not quite, the kind of closeness that made consent feel like a blade you offered willingly.
"Consent," Astra murmured, "to saying yes only to protect me. Not to obey them."
Kael's eyes darkened. "I choose you."
The words hit Astra like heat and grief tangled.
00:00:02
Behind them, the stone seam cracked wider. A wedge of cleaner air slid in like a knife.
Orin's voice snapped from ahead, barely controlled. "Now!"
Juno's disk hummed louder, eager, angry.
Astra's collar pulsed again, hungry, as if it could taste the moment law became flesh.
Kael's throat worked. The system wanted the simplest thing in the world.
One syllable.
Astra grabbed his forearm hard—human contact, not crest—and made it explicit one last time, because she refused to let the system pretend this was anything but choice.
"Kael," she whispered, "do you consent to taking the recipient role for seconds—only to block House Veyrn—then we burn the lane and run."
Kael's jaw clenched. His eyes stayed on hers.
"Yes," he said, rough.
00:00:01
Astra's stomach dropped with relief and fear at once.
Kael inhaled.
And in the dark, with the seam behind them splitting under Dominion hands, Kael spoke the word the Empire wanted—
"Yes."
The world held still.
For half a heartbeat, Astra felt nothing but the weight of that syllable in the air—too clean, too simple, too dangerous.
Then the system snapped.
Not like a door opening.
Like a collar closing.
Astra's interface flared bright enough to hurt.
CUSTODIAN ACCEPTANCE RECEIVEDRECIPIENT ROLE: KAEL RAITHE — CONFIRMEDHOUSE VEYRN EMERGENCY OVERRIDE: DENIED (RECIPIENT LOCKED)MILITARY INTERCEPT: FAILED (RECIPIENT CLAIM ACTIVE)
Astra exhaled hard.
It worked.
For a breath, it worked.
And then the twist slid in under the victory like a knife under ribs—quiet, small, absolutely fatal.
RECIPIENT ROLE TYPE: PROXY OWNER (EMERGENCY CUSTODY)DURATION: 72 HOURSNOTE: OWNER RIGHTS ENABLED FOR SUBJECT SAFETY
Astra's blood went ice.
Proxy owner.
Not handler.
Not custodian.
Owner.
The collar around Astra's throat warmed—hungry, satisfied—like it had been waiting for a new name to press its mouth against.
Kael felt it too. His face changed—micro-second horror, rage, disbelief.
"No," Kael said, flat.
Astra's throat burned.
The interface didn't care.
It didn't argue.
It updated.
OWNER: KAEL RAITHE (PROXY)STATUS: ACTIVECLAUSES: SAFETY LOCKS ENABLED
Dorian's silk laughter bloomed in Astra's nerves, delighted and furious at once. "Oh. Oh, that's better than me."
Astra's stomach turned.
Kael's eyes snapped to Astra's throat, then to her eyes, like he couldn't bear the sight of what the system had done with his name.
"I didn't agree to that," Kael rasped.
Astra's voice came out tight. "I know."
Heat flared in Astra's belly anyway—sick and sharp—because the word owner on Kael was the exact kind of power-play the system adored.
And Astra was branded with a collar that could feel it.
Kael's jaw clenched. "Astra—say something."
Astra forced her breathing slow.
"Consent," Astra said low, fierce, "I do not consent to ownership. Proxy or not."
The collar pulsed once, irritated.
The interface flickered.
NOTE: SUBJECT CONSENT RECORDED (NON-BINDING UNDER EMERGENCY CUSTODY)
Kael's eyes went murderous. "Non-binding."
Orin snarled from ahead, "Less staring at text. More moving!"
Behind them, the seam exploded into clean light.
A Hound's silhouette filled it—helmetless, face calm, crest bright. The lead. Patient. Unhurried. Like he'd known the tunnel would end in a corner eventually.
His gaze fixed on Kael.
Then his eyes flicked to Astra's throat, and the smallest change hit his mouth—interest.
"Owner proxy assigned," the Hound said calmly. "Good. Now comply."
Kael's body twitched—reflex trying to report, to obey, to accept the clean relief of being back inside the kennel's rules.
Kael clenched his jaw and didn't move.
Astra felt the collar's hunger spike—because conflict fed the system too.
The Hound stepped forward, voice even. "Custodian—Owner proxy—secure your subject."
The handler panel pulsed at the edge of Astra's vision, eager to "help."
But the new role came with new tools.
Astra saw them like knives laid out neatly:
OWNER COMMANDS AVAILABLE (LIMITED):— COLLAR LOCKDOWN— SILENCE SEAL— COMPLIANCE POSTURE— RETURN TO SAFE ROUTE
Kael stared at the options in his own interface—Astra saw the reflected horror in his eyes without needing to read his display.
"No," Kael said again, voice rough with rage. "No. No. No."
The Hound's calm cracked into thin irritation. "Comply."
Orin slammed a scar-sigil ahead. The passage in front of them shuddered, trying to open into another seam. Juno raised her disk, ready.
Kael stayed close to Astra, hand at her waist—warm, steady—but his other hand shook slightly, fighting reflex and the sick new authority the system had placed into his throat crest.
Astra leaned in, close enough to feel his breath, and made the one thing she could still control into a weapon:
consent.
"Kael," Astra whispered, low and intimate, "you don't use any owner commands without asking me."
Kael's eyes snapped to hers. "I won't."
"Ask," Astra insisted.
Kael's throat worked like it pained him. "May I—" He swallowed. "May I keep holding you."
Heat flared through Astra—sharp, alive, furious.
"Yes," Astra said. "Hold me. Don't own me."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Never."
The word landed like a vow.
The Hound moved again, stepping closer. "Secure her," he ordered. "Now."
Kael's body twitched.
Astra saw his hand start to rise—wrong, borrowed—toward her collar.
Threat exception.
The system would love it.
Astra didn't wait for the leash to tighten.
She snapped, "Kael—look at me!"
His eyes jerked to hers.
"I'm here," he rasped.
Astra's voice dropped, hot and deadly. "Choose."
Kael's hand stopped mid-rise—trembling, hovering.
He forced it down.
"I choose," Kael said, rough. "I choose her."
Astra's interface flickered.
VOLUNTARY AFFIRMATION DETECTEDMOTOR SUGGESTION REDUCED (TEMP)
Good.
The Hound's gaze sharpened. "Interesting."
Orin's seam finally cracked open ahead, spilling cold air.
"Go!" Orin snarled.
They ran.
Astra's boots slapped wet stone. Her trace buzzed hot under her skin like insects. Kael stayed close, hand at her waist, guiding her through the narrow opening.
Behind them, the Hound followed—calm, relentless.
And then the second threat hit, colder than the first:
not Dorian.
Not the Hound.
The voice that lived inside Kael's crest.
Captain Rusk Dain.
The military link snapped clean for a heartbeat—enough for Rusk's voice to slide in with quiet satisfaction.
"Well done," Rusk murmured. "You said yes."
Kael flinched, rage flaring. "Rusk—"
Rusk's voice stayed calm, predatory. "You've accepted a proxy owner role. That makes you accountable."
Astra's stomach turned.
Rusk purred, "Now exercise it. Lock her collar. Silence the seal. Bring her to me."
Kael's jaw clenched until his teeth creaked.
"No," Kael said.
Rusk's voice softened, dangerous. "Owner proxy refusal is a breach. Breaches get corrected."
Kael's body twitched.
Astra felt the tug in him like a rope tightening.
Kael's hand at her waist tightened, and Astra couldn't tell if it was grounding or reflex for a moment.
She forced it back into choice.
"Consent," Astra whispered, urgent, "if you feel him pulling, you tell me."
Kael's breath shuddered. "Yes."
They burst into a wider junction chamber—dead-sand gutters, a low channel of dark water, old pipes sweating. Orin slapped a scar-sigil; the air thickened, muffling signal. For a second, the world got quieter.
Juno panted, eyes wild. "Did we block them."
Orin shook his head once. "We delayed them."
Kael's face was tight, furious. His gaze stayed on Astra, like he couldn't afford to look away from the one thing that kept him human.
Astra's throat burned under the damp wrap.
Her interface pulsed again with the new status, unforgiving.
OWNER: KAEL RAITHE (PROXY) — ACTIVEDURATION: 71:59:12NOTE: COMMAND OVERSIGHT WATCHING
Astra swallowed hard.
"Kael," Astra said, voice low, "this is a leash. But it's a leash with your name on it, not Dorian's."
Kael's eyes went darker. "I don't want my name on you."
Astra's mouth tightened. "I don't either."
Heat snapped between them—dangerous, intimate. Kael's gaze flicked to her mouth and away again like he was refusing to want in a moment built out of ownership language.
Astra wanted him to stop refusing.
Not to feed the system.
To feed the choice.
She stepped closer, shoulder brushing his chest.
Kael's breath hitched.
"Consent," Astra whispered, almost against his jaw, "if I use your name as an anchor."
Kael's voice came rough. "Yes."
Astra's pulse kicked.
"Kael," she whispered, and felt his body respond—not as a hound, as a man.
Orin snapped, "We're not safe!"
The stone behind them shuddered again—pressure finding the junction.
Juno raised her disk, trembling.
And then the final twist arrived, clean and cruel, in Astra's vision—something the system had waited to reveal until the proxy owner role made it possible:
PROXY OWNER CLAUSE: "RETURN TO OWNER" ENABLEDTRIGGER: SUBJECT DISTRESS + EXTERNAL PURSUITDESTINATION: REGISTERED SAFE HOUSE (IMPERIAL HOUNDS)AUTO-EXECUTE IN: 00:00:10
Astra's blood went ice.
A "safe house."
Imperial Hounds.
A cage with a softer name.
Kael saw Astra's face and went still. "What now."
Astra swallowed blood. "Auto-return. Ten seconds. It's going to drag us to a Hound safe house."
Kael's jaw clenched, rage flashing. "It can't."
Astra's throat burned. "It will. Through your owner proxy."
Kael's eyes went lethal—then something even more dangerous: resolved.
He looked at Astra like he was making a vow in the middle of a war.
"Ask me," Kael rasped. "Tell me what to do."
Astra's mind raced. She could try to write—trace would kill her. She could try Delay Loop—pain price and only seconds. She could try to deny auto-execute using Kael's voice—if the system accepted it.
She leaned in, breath warm at his mouth, heat braided with strategy so tightly it hurt.
"Kael," Astra whispered, "do you consent to denying the auto-return even if it hurts you."
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Yes," he said, rough. "I choose."
Astra nodded once.
"Then say it," Astra whispered. "Out loud. Now."
Kael inhaled—
—and the collar at Astra's throat pulsed like a heartbeat as the countdown hit 00:00:05, and the system offered Kael a single clean command line to accept—
or else be dragged home.