Chapter 35

Raeve escapes her binds and attempts to kill Kaan while he sleeps, but hesitates when faced with him. Their emotions erupt into passionate physical contact, which Kaan abruptly halts when Raeve demands the encounter be meaningless rather than intimate.

Raeve uses a dragon scale to cut through her rope binds, wounding her arm in the process. She cleans the wound, changes into softer clothing from Kaan's drawers, and waits for him to fall asleep. She descends the stairs with the scale, intending to kill him as he lies on the seater. However, seeing him peaceful and naked, she experiences conflicting emotions—admiring his beauty and his kindness toward her, yet remembering Kaan is one of the Vaegor kings rumored to have committed heinous acts. She steels herself by mentally discarding her emerging feelings, but when she straddles him with the scale at his throat, his eyes open and her buried emotions resurface violently. Kaan says "I see you, Raeve" and touches her face tenderly. Raeve's desire to kill him transforms into desperate physical need. She pulls down her pants and guides his hand to her body, begging him to touch her. They progress toward intercourse, with Kaan asking if she is certain and showing tenderness. Raeve, unable to bear the emotional weight of his gaze and touch, demands it be meaningless. Kaan flinches at this request and, calling her "Prisoner Seventy-Three," abruptly stops and orders her to return to her sleep space and rest for the long ride ahead. Humiliated and confused, Raeve flees up the stairs.