Chris Blackwood – The King Returns
The room was silent except for the faint hum of the city beyond the palace walls. The air was thick with the remnants of indulgence, the consequences of a moment I hadn't foreseen.
I lay back, exhaling slowly as the weight of my own recklessness settled over me. A single mistake. One miscalculation.
Rhea shifted beside me, her breathing steady, unaware—or perhaps too wise to acknowledge—the shift in my demeanor.
I never lost control. Not until now.
I turned my head slightly, my voice colder than before. "You will take care of this."
She remained still for a moment before answering. "Of course, Your Majesty."
But something in her tone made me narrow my eyes. A hint of something unspoken.
A mistake had been made. But I wasn't a man who suffered the weight of mistakes. I corrected them.
One way or another.