Chapter 103: After all

Stefan's POV

The dream fractured without warning.

One moment I was still surrounded by warm skin and soft, satisfied breathing. The next, the women, the bed, and the entire chamber dissolved into gray static that ripped sideways across my vision. The pull back into my body was violent. Sensation returned in a single brutal wave.

Pain hit first.

My back felt like it had been laid open. Every lash the Flowers had landed while I was gone lit up at once, hot, deep, and throbbing in thick lines from my shoulders down to the middle of my spine. My wrists ached from the chains. My shoulders burned from being locked in the same stretched position for too long. I sucked air through my teeth and forced my eyes open.

The cell was quieter than before.

Dove stood near the open door with the two Flowers behind her. She studied me for a moment, her eyes narrowed, as if confirming I was still breathing. Whatever she saw seemed to satisfy her enough.

"He is finished for now. Leave him. Her Majesty can decide the rest when she returns." I heard her tell the Flowers coldly.

The Flowers released the chains. My arms dropped like dead weight, sending a fresh spike of pain through my back. I caught myself against the wall before my knees could buckle. Dove gave me one last look of pure dislike, then turned and left with the others. Their footsteps faded up the stairs. The heavy door remained open, but the corridor outside stayed empty.

I stayed still for a few long breaths, my forehead resting against the cold stone, just existing inside the pain.

The memory of the dream sat right beside it - the warmth and fire of those women, the way they had moved on me, the thick, layered pleasure that had drowned out everything else. My body still remembered it even while it screamed from the whipping. The contrast was almost funny in a sick way.

'Enjoyed myself while they flogged me unconscious. That's a new low, even for me.'

I pushed off the wall and opened my inventory with a thought. Healing oil was the first thing I reached for. The moment I selected it, the System chimed.

[Reminder: Host carries an outstanding AP debt. Collection window has opened.]

I let out a short, disbelieving scoff.

"You're seriously collecting debts *now*? While I'm standing here bleeding in a dungeon?"

[A debt is a debt,] the System replied, almost gently. [The terms were set. Collection occurs at the designated time regardless of Host's circumstances.]

"Of course it does." I dragged a hand down my face, then winced when the movement pulled at the wounds on my back. "Fine. Just take it. The Kara mission should have covered more than enough."

The System deducted the amount without further comment. The remaining balance still left me enough to purchase the healing oil. I crushed the vial, poured the cool liquid into my palm, and worked it across every burning line I could reach. The relief was immediate and deep - heat sinking into the damaged muscle, knitting flesh, dulling the worst of the pain until it became manageable instead of blinding.

I exhaled slowly.

Better.

Not good. But better.

I didn't waste the opening. If Jonquil hadn't been asleep earlier, there was a chance she might be close to it now. Wouldn't she take a break at least? Even if it would be for a few minutes.

I lay down on the stone bench, closed my eyes, and pushed myself back toward the dream.

The gray space formed faster this time. And thankfully, Jonquil was there.

But she stood a long distance away, her figure slightly blurred around the edges, as if the connection was unstable. I started toward her at once.

"Hey, babe." I yelled.

[Target is only lightly dozing,] the System noted. [Proximity must be established quickly. Host should run.]

I broke into a run.

The formless ground gave no real traction. Within seconds my lungs were burning and my legs felt heavier than they should have. The System, helpful as ever, decided to comment.

[Host's physical conditioning remains inadequate. Consistent completion of daily training tasks would improve performance in situations such as this.]

"Not the time," I snarled under my breath, and kept running.

Jonquil's figure was starting to fade at the edges. I pushed harder, closed the last stretch of distance, and grabbed her wrist before she could disappear completely. The moment I made contact I pulled her deeper into the more stable part of the dream space with me.

"Jonquil." My voice came out rough. "I need your help. I'm in the palace dungeon. They have me locked up for something I didn't do. Dove is trying to have me finished before the Queen even returns. I need you to come to the palace and get me out of this."

"Please. Please..."

She looked at me for a long moment. Her expression didn't change. Her eyes stayed calm, almost distant, as if she were listening to something happening very far away.

Then she simply faded out of my grip like smoke.

I stood alone in the gray again.

[Target has woken,] the System said.

Frustration punched through my chest hard enough to make me clench my fists.

"Of course she has."

I let the dream collapse and opened my eyes back in the cell. The healing oil had done its work, but the residual ache still sat deep in the muscle. I sat up slowly, rested my elbows on my knees, and stared at the open doorway.

Fine.

If Jonquil wasn't coming, then I would wait for the Queen herself and take my chances pleading the truth - or at least a carefully edited version of it. It wasn't a good plan. It was just the only one I had left.

I was still turning that unpleasant reality over in my head when new footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Multiple sets.

Then a voice I knew better than most cut through the damp air of the dungeon, firm and clear and unmistakably real.

Jonquil.

I stood up so fast the residual pain in my back flared in protest.

She had come after all.