Earl Reiner didn't let his shock linger. He moved swiftly to the bed, yanking the blanket free and wrapping it around Otto's bare, unconscious body in one fluid motion.
"Do you want me to take him to Duke Etien?" he asked, his voice low but steady.
Without waiting for a reply, Reiner crossed the room, grabbed a thick woolen throw folded over a chair, and spread it across the cold stone floor beside Kael. Randall, the orc warlord, gave a short whistle and turned his back, a rare gesture of respector perhaps just a nod to the privacy of what was about to unfold.
"I'll take him to Winterbraun," Reiner said, calm as ever, though Kael's despair still hung in the air like smoke. "Duke Etien will protect him. But you owe me an explanation, Kael Lenoch."
"I've never betrayed the Duke," Kael growled, voice rough and low, like a snarl held back by sheer will. "But now, get out. Before I kill you too."
His stance shifted, muscles coiling, ready to strike.
