"Even kings can be undone not by war or blade, but by the quiet hand they choose to hold."
Peace was a strange thing. I'd spent so long on battlefields and council chambers that quiet felt unnatural. Yet here, in the Eastern Chambers, it wrapped itself around me like a cloak I didn't know I needed. The fire burned low, the lamp light soft, and Elias leaned against me as though he'd always belonged there. His head rested on my shoulder, his fingers laced with mine, his book abandoned in his lap. A simple thing, this closeness. No titles. No guards. No war pressing in from every side. Just my Omega, my mate, breathing steadily and warm beside me, and for once, the weight of being king did not matter.
I might've even closed my eyes, allowed myself to believe the world could wait. But then, "Should I knock?" a lilting voice cut in, "or would barging in be more entertaining?"
