Bener could not tear his gaze away from Shaya. It clung to her like a brand, sharp and unrelenting, as though he meant to carve her image into memory. Shaya felt it immediately—the weight of his attention scorching her skin, stealing the air from her lungs.
When she finally looked back, her heart seemed to stutter, then stop altogether.
Bener.
He had come for her.
Duke Kassius caught the hesitation in his daughter's stance, the brief falter in her composure. His eyes followed her line of sight and landed upon a cluster of envoys clad in Azurverdan colors, their bearing unmistakably foreign and dangerously self-assured.
So they knew each other.
A chill crept down his spine.
