He released the table, leaning back in his chair. His gaze drifted distant, as if witnessing something from decades past, a haunted expression flickering across his face.
"When I was younger, barely older than you are now, my brother and I accompanied our father to the Prosperity Kingdoms. King Venus, the previous king before Eric, had requested aid. Demons were spilling through weak points in the kingdom, threatening entire cities. My father took us as part of our training to show us what real combat looked like."
Lady Genevieve's hand found Alaric's, squeezing gently. He didn't seem to notice.
"We encountered a demon unlike any we'd faced before," Alaric continued. "Powerful. Intelligent. Cruel in ways that would break most men like twigs. We fought it in the ruins of a town it had destroyed. Bodies everywhere. Children's bodies."
His voice had gone flat, emotionless.
