The stronghold had fallen before nightfall. Screams still echoed through the stone halls, but Aldric walked calmly, the blood of the conquered drying on his gauntlets. The fire hadn’t reached the inner sanctum yet. Not that it mattered. Nothing in this place would be left standing by dawn.

They brought her forward from the storeroom where she’d been kept—tied, not to stop her from fleeing, but from reaching for the dagger she’d hidden in her skirts.

She held herself tall. Shoulders squared, chin lifted. Fourteen, maybe fifteen, but already wearing her father’s pride like armor. Her lip was split. Her wrists, raw. She didn’t bow. Didn’t flinch.

“She’s the chieftain’s daughter,” said the captain. “Old enough to serve purpose.”

Aldric studied her.

She didn’t beg. That was the first surprise. She met his gaze—calm, empty, as if her soul had already fled and left only a shell behind to suffer whatever came.

He reached for her. The guards tensed. So did she.

But instead of striking, he caught the rope binding her hands and cut it with his dagger. The bindings dropped.

“Bring water,” Aldric ordered. “And food. Something clean.”

A long silence.

“My king?” one soldier asked, confused.

“She stays with me,” Aldric said flatly. “No one touches her. No one speaks to her. She belongs to no man in this hall.”

A flicker of disbelief crossed her face—quick, then gone.

“You’ve taken her land,” someone muttered behind him. “Why spare the girl?”

Aldric turned his head slightly. Just enough for the man to feel the cold weight of that look.

“Because I can,” he said.

He stepped forward and placed his cloak over her shoulders. Not gently. Not tenderly. Simply, like settling a matter of war.

Then he leaned close enough that only she could hear him. “You don’t owe me thanks. Or trust. Only silence.”

She said nothing, but her eyes burned—not with tears, but with defiance. She was still a daughter of the Highlands.

And Aldric, for the first time in weeks, felt something stir beneath the steel in his chest.

He didn’t know if it was shame.

Or respect.