Evelyn’s blade left a pale line beneath Lucian’s jaw.
He smiled against the threat and told her this was the woman he wanted—angry, refusing, armed.
Evelyn stepped back only after the guards closed around him.
“Return him to the garden residence. No unscheduled movement.”
Lucian let them take him away with the look of a man who had mistaken a warning for an invitation.
By evening, another formal dinner waited.
Candlelight flashed across crystal and silver. Cold air crept beneath the tall doors.
Evelyn understood the arrangement before she reached the high table.
Celeste seated Vesper’s senior officers below minor nobles. Veterans sat by the service doors with pewter cups while crystal glittered above.
Albert wore formal gray.
Marcus, unadorned black.
Lucian, the red-and-black co
