They say a man will never truly know a woman, but a woman will know the man whole.
Clearly, whoever coined that phrase had never crossed paths with Alpheo. The King of Yarzat possessed eyes that felt entirely unnatural, as if they were capable of peering directly through your flesh and stripping your soul bare. In a single, unblinking look, those hazel eyes could show you exactly how weak you were, exactly how little you meant , but also exactly how strong you could be.
Perhaps on that distant, sun-baked day on the run-down streets of Yarzat, the King had saw more of the latter than the others two. But right now, in the suffocating quiet of the solar, Alpheo only saw how meek his newly minted legate truly was.
A weak boy in love.
He knew. By all five of the gods, the King knew.
