"…then expect me to just forget about it?"
Aldric's voice rose sharply now, the exhaustion and restraint from earlier beginning to crack apart under the pressure of what he had just heard.
"To go back to my kingdom and pretend I don't know where the attack came from?" he continued. "To lie to my own people when I know exactly who did it? It was Percvale!"
He jerked forward in his chair suddenly, trying to point at Darion across the table.
But his hands were still bound.
The movement failed awkwardly. The rope around his wrists tightened and stopped him halfway through the gesture. The frustration of it seemed to make something inside him snap harder.
He struggled again.
And again.
The chair scraped loudly against the stone floor.
"You—"
The words cut off into a growl of anger. His breathing had become uneven now, the controlled exhaustion from earlier being replaced with genuine rage.
