The silence stretched as the Queen of the Elven Empire stepped forward.
Aeloria El'Leather was a presence unlike any other.
Where Zareth carried his noble lineage with a mix of rebellion and quiet burden, Aeloria embodied it completely.
She was grace, she was power—she was the weight of an entire kingdom in the form of a woman.
Ed, despite all he had been through, felt something unfamiliar coil in his chest as she approached.
Not fear.
Not intimidation.
Something heavier.
Something that made him feel small in a way he couldn't quite understand.
Her lavender eyes locked onto him, scanning, reading, analyzing.
Not with hostility, but with something much worse.
Curiosity.
Concern.
And something that looked dangerously close to understanding.
Then, finally—
"You saved my son."