Huldah folded her arms. "Alaric, we are your parents. You don't need armor with us."
Ezekiel nodded. "Whatever it is, you don't have to carry it alone."
Alaric didn't respond.
The silence stretched.
Ezekiel's patience finally snapped.
"Are you having an affair?"
Alaric's head snapped up.
Ezekiel had stepped closer now, his expression was dark and dangerous, like a man already halfway to violence if the answer went the wrong way.
"Because if you are," Ezekiel continued, "I will not ask twice."
Huldah gasped. "Ezekiel!" She turned sharply to him. "How could you even ask that? Our son's loyalty..."
"I'm asking because I know my son," Ezekiel cut in, without looking at her. "And because something is wrong."
Alaric stood abruptly, the chair scraping back. "No," he said flatly. "Never."
Huldah exhaled in relief, pressing a hand to her chest. "Of course not."
Ezekiel studied him for a long moment, searching his face like a battlefield map.
