The soft click of the door closing behind them echoed through the marble corridor as Pyris, Elsa, and Alera made their way toward the meeting wing. The plush carpets muffled their footsteps, but the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a blade.
'Mother's warning,' Pyris thought, his expression calm despite the storm brewing in his mind. Duchess Emberly had been crystal clear when she'd told him she wouldn't be attending this farce of a meeting. Her exact words had been sharp as winter steel:
"That greedy bastard will try to use Alexandra as leverage. Mark my words, son."
Pyris had barely reacted then, just that slight nod that said he'd heard her. Truth was, he didn't need his mother to tell him how far human greed could stretch. He'd been human himself once, after all. Seeing it from this angle now—as a lust dragon with power beyond mortal comprehension—didn't change the fundamental truth about his former species.
