Caspian’ pov
The weight of her silence gnawed at me, even more than the wound I’d inflicted. Arabella was always a calculated woman, her mind sharp with schemes and plots, but now… something had shifted. Her expression was empty, void of the fire that had once driven her. It wasn’t fear or anger; it was something far worse—a quiet resignation.
I didn’t lower my sword, keeping its tip mere inches from her face, but my gaze never left her eyes. There was no plea for mercy, no hatred or venom. Instead, there was only a hollow, unsettling calm.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, my voice low, laced with suspicion. "What game are you playing now?"
She blinked slowly, as if I had asked something trivial, her breath steady despite the chaos swirling around us. "There’s no game, Caspian," she
