"It was an accident," Rowan said, his voice tightening as he refused to back down, matching Lucien's dark stare. "We were out past the western ridge. He wanted to try riding a horse for the first time but tripped over an exposed root near the ravine, and I grabbed him before he could fall over the edge. I gripped him too hard, Lucien. That's it."
Lucien's gaze didn't soften. He took a slow step closer, the scent of clove smoke and cold danger rolling off him. "You let him ride a horse? A royal horse? You took a traitor outside the safety of the perimeter, handled him with carelessness, and brought him back broken."
"He is no traitor to me, and he isn't glass, cousin, and definitely not your property!" Rowan barked, his own temper finally flaring. "He wanted to see the valley. He wanted a moment to breathe without your shadow suffocating him! If I hadn't been there to catch him, he'd be at the bottom of the rocky ditch right now."
