Page 42 of The Golden Rose Of Valenul

“And you have no right to speak to her as though she is nothing but dirt beneath your boot.” Azriel pushed past Madan to stand a breath from Loren. The extreme height difference forced the General to tilt his head back to look him in the eye.

“Tenebra!” Markus snapped from behind Loren. “Final warning!”

“Get out of my face, or you will be the next thing under my boot,” Loren snarled, hand drifting to the sword at his hip.

Azriel angled his head and bared his fangs. “You are a pompous asshole who uses a worthless title to elicit fear. Ariadne Harlow deserves better than the likes of you.”

Madan pushed between them and shoved at Azriel’s chest. Azriel took two steps back, still pulling his lips back in a snarl. His hands shook at his sides, and he blinked hard to clear the pounding in his head. It did nothing.

“Return to the manor immediately,” Markus ordered him from behind Loren. “I will deal with you when we return.”

Holding up a hand, Loren shook his head. “No.”

“He is my responsibility,” the Princeps said.

“And all personal guards fall under my jurisdiction.” Loren motioned at the soldiers standing outside the Court House. They hurried over. “Arrest him.”

Ariadne watched in horror as the soldiers unbuckled Azriel’s sword and yanked his arms behind his back. Thick-chained shackles clanked as they locked around his wrists. He did not resist, choosing instead to glare at Loren the entire time. Only when the soldiers gripped his arms to lead him away did his line of sight shift.

Something big swelled in her chest as his eyes collided with hers. The peridot shimmered, and the hardness fell from his face. He opened his mouth once, then closed it without a sound. What Loren was doing was wrong. Disagreements should not equate to an arrest.

“Father, he cannot do this,” she said, reaching for him.

Her father pulled away. “Tenebra stepped out of line with a superior officer. He must face the consequences.”

“But he was only—”

“For the sake of the gods,” he snarled, “hold your damned tongue and learn your place.”

Ariadne gaped at him, speechless. He spoke as though he blamed her words for Azriel’s response. What Loren had said had been out of line—for his soldiers and the implications he made about their guard.

Perhaps she was to blame for what Azriel said. He had been defending her, just as she had tried to refocus Loren’s words. They had been cruel and out of character for the man she saw as her future husband.

“General, please,” she said quietly, slipping closer to Loren. He looked down at her, brows furrowing, and she laid a hand on his arm. “I spoke out of turn. This is my fault.”

Loren scanned her face for a long moment, then spoke to the soldiers. “I will determine his punishment at a later date. Take him away.”

“No—please!” She turned to her guard, flanked by and dwarfing two soldiers. Were she not mortified by the events unfolding around her, the sight would have been comical.

Azriel searched her face for a long moment before he stumbled forward, the soldiers marching him toward the back of the Court House. To the prison, unseen from the street.

“Ari…” Emillie’s soft voice behind her did little to settle the sudden urge to vomit. Her sister’s hand slipped into hers and squeezed. “Ari, it is done. You have to stop.”

The words, faint behind the ringing in her head, did little to calm her down. As Caersans who stopped to watch the drama continued on their way, her father turned to Loren, lips thin and nostrils flared.

“You made a fool of my personal guards,” he said in a low hiss. “A fool of me.”

Loren pivoted back to him, cool and calculated—a wholly atypical expression to what Ariadne was accustomed to. When he spoke, his tone was even and the words loud enough for onlookers to hear. “My apologies, Princeps. Your guard was out of hand. I will remind him of his place and return him to your services once he has been dealt with.”

“What punishment do you believe he is due?”

“You and I can determine that later.” Loren straightened the cuffs of his sleeves as though everything was business as usual. It only made the hollowness in Ariadne’s stomach grow. “I do not feel it appropriate to leave you with an insubordinate guard. He will be corrected.”

“Publicly or privately?”

Loren’s mouth curled up at the corners. “As I said, my Lord, you and I can determine that later, though I believe the fine people of Laeton will wish to witness what happens to a personal guard who steps out of line.”

A beat passed as Ariadne looked on in horror, then her father nodded. “Very good.”

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