Chapter 192. Her Own Energy

Gavriel didn’t answer immediately. Not because he doubted but because he weighed the truth, the danger, and the promise he was about to make.

Then he stepped forward, gaze steady. “I know what Althea is,” he said. “And I know what the world will think of her. I also know she didn’t ask for any of this. None of it is her burden to carry alone.”

He lifted his chin slightly. “But I choose her — not for her bloodline, not for her power, not for what she represents. I choose her because she is mine.”

Zander stared at him in silence for a long moment, almost searching for a lie, a crack, something to dismiss but found nothing.

“You’re willing to anger Velmora for her?” Zander asked quietly. “To stand against every House, even if they declare her an omen of disaster? Even if they turn on her the moment she steps into the light?”

Gavriel didn’t hesitate. “They can try.”

There was no arrogance in his voice, only the cold, unshaking certainty of a king w