The fire burned low inside the west tower.
Beyond the enormous windows, snowstorms swallowed the mountains surrounding Drako Castle, turning the entire kingdom into shadows and white silence.
Alexander still stood with his back to Ariana.
Waiting.
Patiently.
Terrifyingly patiently.
"And have you ever," he asked again quietly, "looked at me the same way?"
Ariana could not answer.
Not because she wanted to spare him.
Because she genuinely did not know.
The silence stretched painfully between them.
Alexander finally turned.
His expression remained composed, but exhaustion lingered beneath his eyes now, softening the sharpness that usually made him seem untouchable.
He looked less like a king tonight.
More like a man trying very hard not to break apart.
"That difficult to answer?" he murmured.
Ariana folded her arms tightly across herself.
"You shouldn't ask questions you don't want answers to."
A faint, humorless smile touched his mouth.
"That means yes."
"No."
