He swallowed and tried again, choosing his words like stones in a riverbed. "Can I ask you a favor?"
There was curiosity, faint and direct, that sparkled for the first time when she turned her gaze to him fully. "I'm curious. What is it?"
Razeal's voice was calm, almost too calm for the storm beneath it. "Can you teach me how to live a life for myself not because of the situation I'm in?" He asked without hesitation, words steady though the intent behind them trembled with uncertainty.
Zara's reaction was not what he expected. She leaned back in her throne-like chair and laughed a restrained, amused sound, all queenly manners and soft mockery folded into one. It wasn't a cruel laugh; it was the kind that belonged to someone who had heard the same question many times and found it quietly entertaining. Razeal watched her, unreadable. She watched him back for a long, cool second and then, without breaking eye contact, spoke.
