Nothing to Lose

Cassie froze for a moment, having finally found what she had been looking for. 

"The king's Flaw…"

And what a cruel Flaw it was. No wonder he seemed cold as steel…

It was not that Anvil was incapable of feeling emotions — he had simply taught himself not to. Since he was destined to lose anything he treasured, he replaced fondness and affection with indifference, thus saving himself, and those he was close to, from having to suffer the consequences of his Flaw. 

His intentions had been good… noble, even, all those years ago. 

But in the end, the path he had chosen only ended up turning him into a monster, twisting and destroying everything he touched. Because once he learned to value nothing, the tethers attaching him to his humanity had come undone. And, unmoored, his cold iron heart slowly drifted further and further away from all that was good and human.