Rivina snapped, her imperial composure fracturing as she caught the lethal edge in Arthur's voice. She stepped sharply between him and her daughter, her posture stiffening. "Arthur, enough. She is a child playing with words. You cannot possibly take the empty provocations of a girl seriously."
"A child?" Evangeline cut in, her voice cold and resonant, piercing through her mother's protective barrier. She didn't blink. She didn't retreat. "I am entirely serious, Mother. I do not play games with my property."
Arthur's gaze flicked from the Empress back to Evangeline, and a dark, rumbling chuckle vibrated in his chest. It wasn't a laugh of amusement; it was the sound of a predator discovering a worthy prey. "Good. If you are so utterly determined to keep him, and if he is equally desperate to play the fool by your side... then I know exactly the right place to make you reconsider your choices."
"Arthur, back down!" Lilian and Rivina screamed in unison.
