234
~Fridolf's POV
I walked down the hall humming under my breath, the tune soft and pleased. The palace felt well-oiled tonight, every servant playing their part, every guard watching without knowing why. I liked nights like this. They held the best kinds of danger: the kind that could be shaped.
When I reached the prison, I paused at the iron door and listened. I had not come to speak kindly with Lisa. I had come to bend her. To make her useful.
A voice carried from inside. Not the harsh bark of a guard. Not the low murmur of a clerk. It was Belinda's voice, thin, sharp, pleased.
I stopped cold and leaned my ear to the crack in the wood.
"All it takes to convince your maid was little cheap coins," she said with a smirk.
"You should have teach them what loyalty is, Lisa,"
