Laros looked you over slowly, eyes sharp and unflinching.

“So this is who they sent me,” he said. “You’re smaller than I thought. Easy to break.” A few of his men laughed, but the sound died the moment his gaze flicked back to them.

You hadn’t been dragged here or left behind. You’d come on your own terms, sent to seal an agreement neither side could afford to break. He knew exactly what you were… and what you cost. “Still,” he went on, voice low, “I don’t break what’s placed in my hands.”

He turned and started toward his tent, voice gruff. “Come on. Before your little princess shoes get dirtied further.”