Page 48 of Severe Husband Warning

“I have already increased surveillance around every known entrance.”

“Then let them go in,” I insist, unable to keep the frustration from my voice. “What are we waiting for? March through those gates. Tear the place apart if you have to.”

Something shifts behind Rothgar’s eyes. It isn't anger exactly, but the patience that has carried him through every one of my questions finally reaches its limit.

“And start a civil war based on the word of a human?”

His voice is stripped of every trace of the gentleness I have grown accustomed to these past weeks, leaving only the measured authority of the Spire Lord addressing a problem no amount of compassion can solve.

The warmth that has come so naturally between us gives way to the distance his title creates. I know the man who shared my bed still stands before me, yet at this moment, he is beyond my reach.

The realization hurts more than I expect. I understand why he must answer as a ruler whose decisions carry the lives of an entire kingdom, yet I hear them as a woman standing before the man she loves.

“My word,” I repeat softly. “My testimony is not enough.”

“It is not about you.”

“It feels very much like it.”

He exhales through his nose before walking toward the strategy table. One hand grips its edge as though grounding his thoughts.

“If I move against one of the King’s most powerful lords without evidence capable of surviving public scrutiny, every noble house will call it political ambition disguised as justice.”

“They’ll be alive,” I counter. “They can’t deny the people working beneath the spire.”

“Malakor’s men will manipulate everything. They will say the workers were hired willingly. They will destroy records, produce witnesses prepared to swear whatever Malakor pays them to swear.”

He says it with such steely composure that the words chill me more than the possibilities themselves.

I stare at him in disbelief.

“How can you say that so easily?”

He doesn't answer immediately. For an instant, he looks older than I’ve ever seen him, memory carrying him somewhere I can't follow.

“Because I have watched it happen before.” His answer comes just as quietly. “I know exactly how the court will respond because I have spent centuries watching powerful men escape consequences through procedure.”

He steps closer, his expression softening just enough that I catch a glimpse of the man beneath the office he carries.

“I need evidence they cannot dismiss,” he says quietly.

“We already have evidence,” I reply, struggling to understand how he cannot see it.

He gives a slow shake of his head. “I need proof the King can act upon without dividing the realm. If I move too soon and fail...” His voice trails away before he finishes the thought. “Malakor walks free.”

“And if you wait,” I whisper, struggling to keep my voice steady, “my people die.”

Saying the words aloud makes them feel even heavier. Somewhere beneath the city, time continues to pass whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.

The study grows unbearably still around us, broken only by the distant crackle of stormlight beyond the windows.

“I have men tracking every crystal shipment entering Malakor’s territory,” Rothgar says at last. “Vhoros has identified officers willing to testify. We’re following the supply routes back through the conduit network. Every piece strengthens the case.”

Every word is measured with the same care he brings to every battle plan. I understand he’s trying to build something Malakor cannot escape—a case strong enough that no one will be able to bury it beneath politics or procedure.

Even knowing that, my thoughts refuse to leave the people hidden beneath the abandoned spire.

Those memories drown out every strategy Rothgar places before me.