The instant the silver lever drops, every marble statue freezes mid-stride. Then the guardians collapse together across the blood-red carpet, raising a pale cloud of settling stone dust.
Elizabeth stumbles free, and Thadeus catches her. She grips him tightly, her breath shaking, while across the ballroom Erzsebet watches without moving.
Elizabeth Bathory
For one moment, let me remember what it feels like to be safe.
Their embrace lasts only a few heartbeats. A dark pulse travels beneath Elizabeth’s skin from her throat to her wrists, answering some blood-bound command.
Elizabeth Bathory
It is starting again. She still has a hold on me.
Erzsebet Báthory
Tenderness will not sever my claim, Elizabeth. Decide quickly, or your awakening will decide for you.
Elizabeth remains in Thadeus’s arms, but her pulse glows faintly beneath her skin. Erzsebet waits across the ruined ballroom, leaving the next move to them.