Crimson against porcelain skin. Dripping down her fingers in thin rivulets. The glowing liquid from the vial mixed with it, turning the blood faintly blue where it touched.
She didn't flinch.
Didn't even look at her hand.
Too angry to register pain. Too focused on processing what she'd just been told to care about minor injuries that would heal within hours anyway because her body had been enhanced by decades of magic and didn't scar easily.
He made this decision alone.
Without consulting her. Without asking permission. Without even bothering to send word that he was deviating from the carefully planned route she'd arranged.
Soren had always been untamed. Had always had that wild edge that made him unpredictable, dangerous, difficult to control. But he'd learned... she'd taught him... to keep himself in check. To ask before acting. To remember that he was Emperor but she was the one who'd raised him, who'd protected him, who'd earned the right to be consulted.
What changed?
