---
Sekhmet stared at the twins for a long moment. Of all the demands he expected. That was not one. His mind, for a heartbeat, did not know where to put that request.
It was not ambition.
It was not greed.
It was not romance.
It was… something else.
Fear, perhaps.
Fear of dying without leaving any mark behind.
Fear of living as paper and then dying as paper.
Fear of being erased completely.
Or maybe it was pride.
A stubborn insistence that if they were going to be owned on paper, then at least they would take something that belonged only to them and choose where it went.
Sekhmet exhaled slowly.
"You are weird," he said.
Vera did not take offense.
"We know," she replied.
Vela added quietly, "We have had many buyers. They look at us like profit. They talk about 'using' us. They talk about 'handling' us. They talk about how our bodies are worth their lust. But…"
Her eyes sharpened.
"We want to choose," she said. "Even if our choices are limited."
