Chapter 24

Chapter 24
The hall smelled of roasted meat and spiced wine. The long oak table gleamed under the glow of the chandeliers, silver goblets lined neatly across its surface. The air was thick with the weight of authority, every chair filled with faces that carried names that shaped kingdoms.
And then there was me.
I stood at the edge of the room with the other maids, my tray balanced carefully in my hands. My palms were sweaty, my heart pounding. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near them when they dined.
But Onyx had changed everything.
“Come,” he said, his voice echoing through the hall. He was already seated near the head of the table, his piercing eyes fixed on me.
I froze, the tray trembling.
The maids beside me glanced at one another, their lips twitching with poorly hidden smirks. One whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
“Look at her. Doesn’t even know where to put her feet.”
Another giggled. “She’ll trip on the rug before she makes it halfway.”
Heat burned in my face, but I forced my legs to move. Step by step, I crossed the room under the gaze of nobles who whispered behind jeweled hands.
When I reached the table, I tried to veer off to the side, thinking he just wanted me closer, but Onyx’s voice cut through the chatter.
“No.” His hand slapped the empty chair beside him. “Here.”
My throat tightened. Every eye turned to me.
Draco’s gaze was the sharpest. Cold, controlled, but with a flicker of something unreadable. Displeasure, perhaps. Yet he said nothing.
Morgana, on the other hand, leaned back in her chair with a smirk. “Really, Onyx? Seating the help among the family? How… progressive.”
A few chuckles followed her words.
Onyx’s eyes flicked to her. The smirk on her lips faltered when he spoke. “She’s not the help. She’s my mate. If you don’t like it, you can choke on your own wine.”
The hall went quiet.
My stomach dropped, but my feet moved of their own accord, carrying me to the chair. I sat stiffly, every muscle tight as whispers spread like wildfire.
Morgana’s face darkened, but she said nothing more.
Onyx poured wine into my goblet himself, ignoring the servant who tried to do it. “Drink.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine—”
“Drink.” His tone left no room for refusal.
My hand trembled as I lifted the goblet. The wine was bitter, burning all the way down.
The conversation around the table started again, but it was stilted, uneasy. Eyes darted to me and away again. Every laugh sounded forced.
Draco finally set down his knife with a deliberate clink. “Onyx,” he said, his voice smooth but sharp, “this spectacle is unnecessary.”
Onyx didn’t look at him. He tore a piece of bread, dipped it in his stew, and said casually, “It’s not a spectacle. It’s recognition. You told me yourself you’d honor my mate. Now here she is.”
Draco’s eyes slid to me, and for the first time, I thought I saw hesitation. “You test my patience.”
“And you test mine,” Onyx shot back, his jaw tight.
A thick silence followed. No one dared speak.
Finally, Draco leaned back in his chair. “Very well. If this is your demand, then so be it. But don’t mistake silence for approval.”
Onyx’s hand brushed mine under the table, not soft but possessive, like he was anchoring me there.
I wanted to pull away.
The meal continued, but I barely tasted the food. The nobles talked in hushed tones, their gazes flicking to me as though I was some strange animal on display.
Morgana eventually broke the silence again. “Tell me, Blair,” she said sweetly, venom laced under every syllable. “Do you know which fork to use? Or will Onyx feed you by hand like a child?”
Snickers rose around the table.
My chest tightened. My hand hovered uncertainly over the cutlery. There were three forks, all gleaming in the candlelight. My fingers itched to grab the smallest, but my mind screamed not to get it wrong.
Before I could choose, Onyx slammed his fist on the table. The goblets rattled, wine spilling onto the cloth. “Mock her again,” he snarled, “and I’ll break your jaw where you sit.”
The laughter died instantly.
Morgana’s face paled, her lips parting in shock.
Onyx’s voice dropped lower, dangerous. “You will all show her respect. She is my mate. That means she is above every one of you.”
The room was suffocating.
I sat frozen, my heart racing. Respect? This wasn’t respect. This was fear. They looked at me not with admiration, but with resentment, with disgust carefully masked under polite silence.
The weight of it pressed down on me.
I leaned closer to Onyx, my voice barely a whisper. “Stop. Please.”
His hand tightened around mine. “No.”
“Onyx—”
“I said no.” His eyes burned into mine, fierce, unrelenting. “They will never make you small again.”
But I already felt small. Smaller than I ever had.
The rest of the dinner blurred together. I heard laughter that didn’t reach anyone’s eyes, the scrape of knives against plates, the occasional cough to break the tension. My stomach twisted with every bite I forced down.
When it was finally over, Draco dismissed the table with a wave of his hand. The nobles rose, bowing slightly before leaving the hall. Their gazes lingered on me, a mixture of shock and fury.
Morgana stormed out without a word, her heels clicking against the stone floor.
I stayed seated, too numb to move.
Onyx leaned back in his chair, satisfied, as though the whole night had gone exactly as he wanted.
“See?” he said softly, turning to me. “Now they know. Now they can’t touch you.”
I stared at him, my throat tight. “You don’t understand. They don’t respect me. They hate me. And now they’ll hate me even more.”
He tilted his head. “Let them. They’ll fear me more than they hate you.”
I shook my head, the weight of the room crushing down on me. “I don’t want their fear. I don’t even want their table. I never asked for any of this.”
His eyes darkened, but he didn’t let go of my hand. “You may not want it. But it’s yours now. And I’ll make them choke on it if I have to.”
I looked at him, at the steel in his eyes, and for the first time I realized something chilling.
Onyx wasn’t just fighting for me. He was fighting for himself. For control. For dominance. And I was the weapon he chose to wield.
And I didn’t know how much longer I could survive being caught between them all.