Adrian’s POV
A slow, vicious smile spread across my lips as I looked from the army spilling into my throne room to King Ariston standing like the warlord he wished he was…fully clad in battle armor polished to a gleam, fur cloak snapping behind him as though he’d been waiting for this exact day his entire life.
Striding in beside him, one obedient step behind, was his Queen.
She looked every inch the typical northern Queen I’ve heard stories about…eyes down, shoulders curved inward, hands clasped so tightly her knuckles went white.
I could smell the restraint rolling off her in waves…years of swallowed words, bitten tongues, practiced silence.
The poor woman was a heartbeat away from snapping, and when she did…gods help the North. Ariston would finally meet a queen’s fury, and it w
