SOREN
I stepped away from Eris and Mira quietly, my boots making no sound against the stone floor as I moved toward the doorway where Ryse stood at attention.
His posture was rigid, professional, but I'd known him long enough to recognize the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw worked like he was chewing on words he didn't want to swallow.
"Commander," I said softly, gesturing toward the corridor. "A word."
He followed without question, and we moved far enough from Mira's chamber that our voices wouldn't carry.
The hallway was empty... everyone had scattered after the courtyard incident, fleeing to their rooms to process what they'd witnessed or to spread gossip like wildfire through the palace.
I stopped near a window overlooking the eastern gardens, watching frost patterns crawl across the glass. Beautiful. Deadly if you touched them wrong.
"What did the physicians tell you?" I asked without preamble. "The full truth, Ryse. Not the half they gave Lady Eris."
