Before Furia left for the Council headquarters, the house was already thick with tension. Rhys stood in the front hall with his hands clenched at his sides and his face pale, and he watched his mother adjust Furia's collar with cold fingers while Lord Theron checked his pocket watch by the door.
“I should go with her,” Rhys said while stepping forward and looking at Lady Marguerite. “The road is dangerous, and she should not travel alone.”
Lady Marguerite did not look up from Furia's dress. “You will do no such thing,” she said while smoothing the fabric over Furia's shoulders. “The Council asked for her alone, not for you, and you will stay in this house where you belong.”
Rhys opened his mouth to argue, but his mother raised a hand and cut him off with a sharp glance. “Do not make me
