Elaine stood at the door to Kael's room, her heart racing.
The thick silence in the air was almost absolute, and the choice she had to make was too hard to bear.
She had just left a meeting with Marcus, and the conflict between loyalty and rebellion was eating away at her. But now she was here, called by Kael, who had become an unpredictable mix of cold distance and strange, painful tenderness.
His deep voice said from the shadows, "Come in."
Elaine paused for a moment before going inside, the cool air of the room clinging to her skin.
Kael stood by the window with his back to her and looked out at the vast kingdom. His shoulders looked tense, but the way he stood tonight was different. He didn't look like a king; he looked more like a man who was carrying something heavy.
He didn
