"I'm sorry."
Dante's voice was quiet as they walked through the long corridor of the castle. The tension from the elders' tower had not fully left his body yet. It clung to his shoulders, tightened his jaw, and flickered behind his dark eyes. His arm remained around Alina's shoulders, his hand resting firmly but gently against her upper arm as if he was still making sure she was truly beside him. That she was real. That she was safe.
"Those elders have completely lost their minds," he continued, his voice low but threaded with barely restrained anger. "I know how frightened you must have been. Being taken like that. Surrounded by those cold old fools."
He stopped walking.
Then he turned her gently to face him.
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Then another.
And another.
