The carriage rattled along the road back to Zephyros palace, its occupants shrouded in silence.
The air inside was thick with tension, the kind that buzzed just beneath the surface, threatening to break free at any moment.
Kaelix sat across from Eirik, his gaze fixed on the landscape outside, but his mind was anything but serene. He couldn't stop replaying the events of the past few days, the ambush, the battle, Eirik's unexpected strength, and the way his own heart had betrayed him.
He had fought the idea of marrying Eirik from the beginning, convinced that the delicate prince from Valeidio was beneath him, too soft, too weak.
But that image had been shattered. Eirik was no fragile flower; he was a force, capable of standing his ground, of fighting back. Kaelix had underestimated him, and the realization gnawed at him.
Now, as the carriage trundled back to the palace, Kaelix found himself wrestling with emotions he hadn't anticipated.
