But as the stairs twisted and widened, his thoughts turned to her sister, Tea Cakes—er, no, Celeste. The meek woman had been his captive years ago. It was a short stint that she broke out of with her nox-touched powers, his first real experience being enthralled. Though as the noxscura pulled at him to descend faster, he began to wonder if there was a time in his life that he’d not been held captive himself by arcana and duty. “Apologies,” he murmured as if Celeste could hear him. He didn’t know exactly what he was apologizing for—he’d been more hospitable to her than anyone else in her
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