The royal gardens, with their curated beauty and silent, watching statues, felt like a stage. Every meeting, every whispered word, was a performance for an unseen audience. My brief, sanctioned encounter with Darius had left me more unsettled than before. His words were a seed of rebellion planted deep in the fertile soil of my frustration, and it was taking root, threatening to c***k the foundations of the pragmatic path Kaelen had laid out.
The following days were a study in controlled tension. My patrols continued. Each time, I demonstrated the same precise control, deflecting a rogue’s lunge here, creating a small, shocking barrier to trip up an attacker there. I never initiated. I only reacted, a shield for the warriors beside me. Their acceptance grew from grudging to genuine. They
