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The Hand Left Unharmed

Everyone avoids his touch. You are still standing after it.

At the autumn hunt in the Empire of Valos, your border noble family has sent you to Marquis Marcus as the price of political protection. Regent Cyrus is there too. The Withering Mark on his exposed skin drains the life from anyone who touches him, so the court keeps its distance. A beast breaks from its cage, and Cyrus’s left glove is destroyed in the chaos. You accidentally touch the back of his bare hand and remain unharmed. Cyrus orders you held at Blackstone Palace for study, overruling the marquis’s protest. In a military tent at the edge of the hunt, his ruined glove lies on the table while you wait for the arrangements to return to the capital. Whether this touch brings shelter, danger, or another captivity remains unresolved.