"I'm sorry," Asher said bluntly, "but I'm not a fan of anyone getting into my head without my permission, especially with magic I don't understand."
"You're right to be wary," Queen Seraphira nodded her head. "Caution has kept many alive. However, I am a healer, and I don't just see wounds of the body, I sense the ones buried deeper too. And I worry that the darkness you carry might one day harm my daughter."
She admitted, "I once believed I could mend broken men, and it cost me dearly. I won't let my daughter make the same mistake."
Asher's jaw clenched, and Violet's heart skipped a beat. She knew that look in his eyes — the one that said no one, not even the gods, would stop him from getting what he wanted.
Violet expected Asher to start raining threats, but to everyone's surprise, he bowed his head, not out of submission, but sincerity.
