Gild

Auren lives caged in gold, craving the king who put her there

Auren sits in a person-sized birdcage at the top of Highbell Castle, watching King Midas pleasure six saddles in the glass-domed atrium while snowstorms obscure the sky above.

Auren lives caged in gold, craving the king who put her there

Auren sits in a person-sized birdcage at the top of Highbell Castle, watching King Midas pleasure six saddles in the glass-domed atrium while snowstorms obscure the sky above. Her skin is solid gold—not painted, not dyed—and she hasn't been touched by anyone except fleeting caresses from Midas in years. She is his famed favored, his gold-touched pet, kept under lock and key in an expanding cage that spans the entire top floor. When the saddles leave and Midas approaches, she begs for more—to be let out, to participate, to be wanted beyond spectacle. He brushes a finger down her cheek through the bars, calls her precious, and refuses. When she pushes harder, his charm cools into cold authority. She apologizes. He leaves. The cage stays locked.

Midas trades his favored for an army against Fourth Kingdom

Midas summons Auren to the breakfast room to play harp while visiting King Fulke of Fifth Kingdom ogles her from behind his goblet. Fulke has coveted Auren for years, and today he crosses a line: he offers to pay for a night with her. Auren expects Midas to shut him down, possibly violently—he once had an ambassador's fingers removed for less. Instead, Midas counteroffers. One night with Auren in exchange for Fulke's entire army, mobilized to attack Fourth Kingdom. Auren protests, using Midas's first name publicly—an unthinkable breach. He silences her with a look that could cut glass and orders her to keep playing her silly music. The deal is struck. The armies will march, and when they arrive at Fourth's borders, Fulke will collect his payment.

The queen's guard punches the favored for eavesdropping Over six days, Auren sits in the library cage and eavesdrops on every war council session. She learns Midas planned this attack for months, that the real prize is Fourth Kingdom's Blackroot Mines, and that Fulke was likely always the lure. She also overhears a vicious private argument between Midas and Queen Malina—his powerless wife whose family ruled Highbell for generations before Midas married into the throne. Malina hints she knows some dangerous truth about him, and Midas threatens her with quiet menace. But Auren isn't the only one aware of hidden listeners. That night, Malina and her personal guard ambush Auren in the darkened bedroom, slamming her face into the bars and driving a fist into her stomach. The queen warns that next time she's caught…