The capital estate's halls echoed with quiet tension. Servants hurried past without speaking, guards stood stiff in polished armor, and behind every corner, eyes watched Zareena like she didn't belong in her own home.
She didn't care.
But when the drawing room doors opened and she saw him, her steps faltered.
"...Nasir?"
The man standing by the hearth was no longer the boy who used to sneak her sweets under the garden wall. He was broader now, tanned by the southern sun, dressed in mercenary black and gold, with a sword strapped to his back that hummed faintly with magic.
Nasir's smile was crooked. "You haven't changed. Still walking like the whole world offends you."
"And you still talk like you want to be punched," Zareena replied, her voice cool but her heart strangely loud.
He chuckled, but there was something else in his eyes. Wariness. Regret.
They hadn't spoken in years—not since the fire, not since the betrayal that tore apart the small trust they once shared. She hadn't expected to find him in the capital. Let alone under her father's roof.
Before she could question him, another voice cut the room like glass.
"I see you're collecting strays again," came Virelia, her younger half-sister, in a gown made to shine and eyes made to cut.
Zareena turned, face unreadable.
"I didn't know your latest suitor took orders like a dog."
Virelia stepped closer, lashes fluttering with false sweetness. "Then again, maybe that's all a northern bastard can attract. Mercenaries and corpses."
Zareena didn't flinch. "And yet I'm the one the Crown calls 'Lady of the North.' Strange, isn't it?"
The room went still.
Nasir let out a low whistle. "She's still got teeth."
Virelia hissed something under her breath and flounced out, but not before throwing Nasir a look that promised trouble.
Once she was gone, Zareena turned to him again.
"Why are you here?"
Nasir sobered. "Because I heard what you did at Vireloch. And because the people you're fighting now… they've bought men like me before. I'd rather fight for you."
Zareena studied him for a long moment. Then she nodded once.
"You want to stand with me?"
"I already am."
She didn't smile. But her eyes softened. Just slightly.
"Then welcome back, Nasir."