Page 13 of Severe Husband Warning

“Enter.”

Commander Vhoros enters before Captain Dresk has finished collecting the amended patrol orders.

“Speak,” I tell him without looking up from the map.

“My lord, an unusual visitor is requesting an audience.”

My attention remains on the southern patrol routes.

“Humans do not request audiences with House Stromgarde, Commander. They petition magistrates, guilds, or whichever official is empowered to refuse them.”

“I informed her of that.”

That earns a glance.

“And yet you’re here,” I reply dryly.

“Yes, my lord.”

Vhoros is not a man given to interruptions. If he has brought this matter before the morning reports are finished, he has already decided it falls outside the ordinary procedures of the household.

I set my quill aside at last.

“What is her name?”

“Calla Alder.”

The name brushes against memory without finding purchase.

I finish reviewing the amended patrol routes before setting the report aside.

“Captain,” I say, “see the orders carried out.”

Dresk bows once and leaves the study. Only after the door closes do I return my attention to Vhoros.

“Continue.”

Vhoros nods.

“She serves House Malakor as a court musician. She refused to state her business to the gate guards. She gave only her name and insisted the matter be placed before you personally.”

That changes the conversation.

Yesterday, Malakor sought to secure influence over House Stromgarde beneath the King’s gaze. Today, a member of his household appears unannounced at my gates requesting a private audience.

It is precisely the sort of quieter maneuver he would prefer once formal diplomacy has failed him.

“I see no reason to indulge whatever game Lord Malakor believes⁠—”

I stop.

At last the name finds its owner.

I see her again beneath the chandeliers of Malakor’s banquet hall, lute still in hand as the guests drift back into their conversations. When our eyes met, she held my gaze for the briefest moment, without mistaking the gesture for equality or shrinking from it in fear.

The moment was brief, but somehow, I remembered it.

“She refused to explain her business to the guards. Only that it concerns Lord Malakor and that she would speak of it only with you.”