Her words carried a gentle cadence, almost pleading—but her gaze betrayed her. There was something beneath it. A quiet assertion. A silent message that needed no voice: With me, he will always choose to stay.
I let out a faint, humorless breath.
“Oh,” I replied coolly, my face unreadable, “your Don is remarkably loyal.”
Thorian’s expression tightened at once, irritation flickering across his features. I could almost feel the tension radiating from him.
“Morwen,” he snapped, his voice edged with frustration, “can you at least try to be reasonable? Selindra just lost someone important to her, and yet you still find a way to mock her?”
The speed with which he rose to her defense did not go unnoticed.
I turned my gaze toward him slowly—sharp, cutting, enough to make the air between us feel heavier.
Without offering another word, I stepped forward and shoved him aside with a controlled but deliberate force, my hand pressing briefly against his shoulder before I walked past him.
My movements were calm. Precise.
But inside, everything burned.