As the two brothers from Herculia stepped into the tent, a quiet shift swept through the room. Conversations fell away. Every eye turned to them.
Arnold, ever the more reserved of the two, immediately grew uneasy under the scrutiny. His shoulders stiffened, his eyes flicked nervously from face to face. To soften the tension, he bowed respectfully toward the prince.
Thalien, by contrast, walked with casual ease. He returned the stares without hesitation, even offering a faint, almost amused smile to one of the men glaring at him.
That, unsurprisingly, was Jarza.
The old commander didn't bother hiding the cold edge in his eyes. He had made his feelings on Thalien abundantly clear from the very first day the young lord had offered his allegiance.
"A man who's betrayed once will do so again," Jarza had said time and again in protest to Alpheo.
