Loreen's POV
Loreen's voice filled the room. He was aware of it. He was aware of every person standing around the table going very still and he did not care. "Six weeks and he is still not here. Six weeks and I am still standing at this table looking at maps and pushing markers around and going to bed in a room that still smells like him and waking up and doing it all again."
Loreen put both hands flat on the table and looked at his father. "I am going. That is the end of it."
The king looked at him.
Something in his father's face was not anger. It was something older and more tired than anger, the expression of a man watching his son break and knowing there is nothing he can do to stop it and having to stand there and watch anyway.
Then Kaid's hand closed around Loreen's arm.
Not gently. Firmly, the way Kaid did everything, with the no-nonsense grip of someone who had made a decision and was carrying it out regardless of objections.
