As someone who hated his orders being disobeyed, Alaric did not let Soren's punishment end with the long, freezing ride on horseback. No, that was merely the surface of his displeasure.
When the unit returned to the main encampment, their boots sinking into the half-frozen slush at the entrance of the central tent, Alaric gave the next order without raising his voice. A quiet command sharp enough to make the air itself tense around them.
"Put that healer under probation for three days."
The knights froze, Lyric swallowed, Sylas looked away, and even Cael's lazy expression flickered in faint surprise.
Probation among the healers was not a simple reprimand but meant restriction as well as scrutiny. It meant stripping a healer of small privileges that defined their already difficult position and access to certain tools, priority in supplies as well as freedom of movement within the medical barracks.
