Knight Commander (3)

"I refuse."

Lucavion's smirk curled into something sharper, something unapologetically defiant.

"I do not bow to anyone, nor obey anyone."

The air shifted.

Tension snapped through the deck like a drawn bowstring, pulled too tight, too close to breaking.

A vein twitched on Thaddeus' temple.

'This boy—'

A slow, burning irritation curled within him, relentless and unyielding. His patience, already strained from far too much of this nonsense, was now on the verge of snapping entirely.

But before he could react—

A sudden, sharp movement from the side.

Aeliana barely had time to register it.

Steel gleamed in the air.

"How dare you!"

The voice rang out, filled with righteous fury.

Reinhardt Valsteyn.

The Knight Commander.

The man who had served under Thaddeus for years, who had dedicated his life to the Duchy, to the Duke—to Aeliana.