---
"Where is my daughter," he said, voice flat and loud enough to carry. "Where is she?"
The line did not move. In the back, two soldiers leaned closer to each other and whispered like fools who like to live near fire.
"Look at him," the first soldier said, forgetting his place. "White hair. That face. Those shoulders."
"Shut up," hissed the second, though his own eyes dragged over Kai with the same envy. "He looks like the stories."
"He looks like the story's ending," the first muttered. "If I had hair like that—"
"Quiet," the captain said without turning. The two snapped their mouths shut like traps.
The captain shifted his stance and lifted his chin by a finger's width. "Who are you," he asked, as if he did not care and wanted to be wrong. "Why are you here? We are soldiers from the Scarlet Ant Kingdom. You show hostile intent to our patrol. Do you know the results of showing killing intent to use? We do not know you. How would we know about your daughter."
