"Well, sister," Aldric began slowly, watching her reaction even before the words fully left his mouth, "I can lay your doubts to rest by telling you this—when I asked Father which opponent he fears to meet in battle… he said Valerian Stormborne."
For a moment, the room seemed to fall into a stillness so complete that even the faint rustle of the curtains felt distant.
Aurelia stared at him.
"Valerian…?" she repeated, almost as though she needed to hear the name again to believe it. "You mean to say that Father—our father—fears him?"
There was something almost surreal about the idea, it did not fit the image she had always held of their father. A man who feared no one.
A man who faced armies without hesitation, who burned through opposition like wildfire through dry land. A man who had never once admitted fear, not even in the face of certain death…
"He fears no one," she added quietly, as though trying to convince herself.
Aldric let out a slow breath.
