"Step away from her," Edric said.
Kael stepped forward, and this time, decisively. "She is under my protection," he said again, and this time, steel rang beneath the words.
Edric's gaze moved slowly to him. "Yes," he said. "I have noticed."
He paused again, observing every single expression on his son's face. Kael looked like he would defy him for her. And he knew the only reason Kael would act this way.
Then, more quietly, he added, "Which is precisely why I am asking." His eyes returned to Aveline. Sharper and colder now.
"Who," he said softly, "are you really?"
Aveline lowered her head.
The hesitation in her chest felt too familiar. Too close to the fear she had once known so well—the same dread that had come before the beatings, before the hands, before the pain that had once driven her to curl up in the chicken coop with bruises blooming beneath her skin and no parents left to call her back.
Her breath turned shallow.
She clutched her shirt, fingers trembling.
