"Aira, I beg you! If never again I ask anything of you, then do this!" Selira pleaded, her voice breaking as she clutched at her daughter desperately.
Aira slowly nodded, her expression unreadable. For a moment, it seemed as though she had given in. Then her gaze shifted—slowly, deliberately—to where Lord Dangrey knelt.
Gone was the fear that had twisted his face moments earlier. In its place was a smirk, subtle but unmistakable, one he tried desperately to hide. His back was still bowed, his posture lowered in submission, but Aira couldn't unsee the faint curl of satisfaction at the corner of his mouth.
He thinks he's won, she realized coldly.
Even as her mother begged harder—more fiercely than before—Dangrey's confidence grew. The sound of Selira's sobs filled the air, raw and humiliating, and still he smirked.
This time, Aira didn't hesitate. She heard her own voice before she even realized she had opened her mouth to speak.
"Kill him."
