Chapter 93
After being debriefed by Duncan and Malakor, Arden was excused, and Malakor followed her out. They walked side by side in a heavy, charged silence.
Arden couldn't shake the weight of it: nearly a dozen guards she had worked with, bled with, and trusted were capable of betraying their own people. The irony was suffocating. Douglas was poisoning their minds, branding her a traitor simply because she had chosen love over duty, all while orchestrating a mutinous insurrection from the shadows.
“It’s obvious this whole situation is eating at you, Arden,” Malakor said as they stepped outside. The sun was beginning to set, and deep oranges and purples were across the sky.
“Because it is,” she replied, her voice tight.
“Why?”
Arden paused and faced him, her face vulnerable. “These
