NAHUEL'S POV
The great doors shut behind me with a finality I could feel in my bones. I crossed the room in three strides, peeling off the heavy cloak of state as I went, and let it fall to the floor. The walls of my private chambers did little to mute the distant roar of the court. Even here, the shadows whispered of what I'd lost.
I poured myself a drink, hands trembling…not with fear, I told myself, but with rage. That was the easier story to believe.
The wine burned going down, but not enough to drown out the memory of Koda's face when he'd marked that girl. My son. My heir. Throwing away everything I'd built for him because he thought he could save someone from me.
Like I was the enemy.
I set the glass down harder than I meant to. The crystal rang against the marble table, a sharp note that cut through the silence of my chambers. Outside, the city sprawled beneath my windows like a living thing, all torches and shadows and secrets I'd spent twenty years learning to control.
