Chapter 160

Darius

The fire in my study burned low, throwing long shadows across the walls. The room smelled of smoke and cedar, of control.

I was reviewing reports, supply routes, patrol shifts, the usual rhythm of command, when the door opened. Bianca stood there, her face pale and drawn, her shoulders tight as if she’d been holding her breath for hours.

“Have her ready for dinner tonight,” I said without looking up from the papers. “She is going to need to eat. The child is to eat with Riley. We can’t leave them to starve.”

She hesitated. “Alaria?”

I finally raised my gaze. “Do you see another prisoner in this house? As far as I am concerned, she is the only one who won’t join my table. But she is going to force herself to learn.”

Her lips thinned. “She won’t like it.”

“She doesn’t have to like it,” I said mildly. “She only has to show up. And you are going to make sure of it, sister.”

Bianca crossed her arms, but the tension in her stan