Page 31 of Severe Husband Warning

I begin walking toward him at an unhurried pace, my grip on Calla’s hand never loosening. There is no advantage in haste. A measured approach gives everyone in the ballroom ample time to understand exactly where my attention is fixed.

When I stop before him, the confidence in his expression has begun to fray.

“Lord Malakor.” I wait until the hall has gone completely still. “The drunken male responsible for this display belongs to your household.”

His smile tightens.

“So he does.”

I hold his gaze for a long moment, allowing the silence to settle over the gathered court before I continue.

“You will have your man clean my lady’s gown.” His brows draw together as though he believes he has misheard me. I do not give him the opportunity to speak. “With his tongue.”

My voice never rises. The unshakable authority of the command accomplishes far more than anger ever could.

Color drains from Malakor’s face as the implication dawns on him. Around us, every noble understands precisely what I have done.

Every eye in the ballroom shifts toward him. The spectacle he arranged has become his own, and the weight of an entire court’s attention now rests squarely upon his shoulders.

The laughter has vanished completely.

An expectant silence fills the ballroom as every gaze shifts toward Malakor, waiting to see how he intends to recover what little dignity remains to him.

A gentle tug at my hand breaks my attention. I look down to find Calla's fingers tightening around mine.

When our eyes meet, embarrassment still lingers in her expression, but alongside it is quiet worry, as though she fears where my anger might carry me if left unchecked.

She gives the slightest shake of her head, her thumb brushing once across the back of my hand.

“My lord,” she whisperss, so softly that only I can hear, “Please. Let’s leave.”

The storm still rages beneath my skin. But her voice reaches a place where my anger cannot.

I look at her once more and realize that every second we remain here keeps her beneath the memory of this spectacle. That alone is reason enough to end it.

I tighten my grip around Calla’s hand, holding it with quiet, unmistakable possession before turning my back on Lord Malakor. He will learn soon enough that this evening is not forgotten. Without another glance in his direction, I lead my wife from the ballroom, leaving an assembly too stunned to utter a single word behind us.

15

CALLA

The storm follows us all the way back to Rothgar’s spire. It clings to him long after we leave the ballroom behind.

The moment the doors to his private chambers close behind us, the silence presses against my ears with the same force as the laughter had only moments before.

Though the chambers are larger than my own, the air feels strangely close, charged with the anger Rothgar carries into the room as though it followed him across the city.

His boots carry him toward the storm-swept windows overlooking Ti’lith, where dark clouds churn endlessly around the towering spires. He stops there briefly before turning away again, restless energy refusing to let him remain still for long. The measured composure he wears before the court has fractured somewhere between the ballroom and these chambers.

I’ve never seen him like this.

The gown clings unpleasantly to my skin where the aspic has dried against the embroidery, but I can’t bring myself to care. My hands refuse to stay still, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from my skirts before drifting to the ring resting against my collar, the one thing I insisted my attendants leave untouched.

I don’t realize he’s watching me until his restless pacing slows. His gaze flicks to my hands before he crosses the room and presses against what I’d mistaken for another carved wall. A hidden door swings inward.

“My chambers connect to yours,” he says quietly. “If you would rather be alone for a while...”

I hadn’t even realized. Apart from the few times he has visited my rooms or summoned me to his study, there’s never been a reason to wonder how closely our lives were arranged beneath this roof.