"About that..." Zeke said, his voice softening. "Do you wish to know his fate?"

  Irisen’s glare eased, replaced first by surprise, then by concern. She had likely been captured before him and never learned what had happened to her husband.

  "Will you tell me the truth?"

  Zeke nodded solemnly. "To the best of my knowledge, I swear it."

  This would not be easy for her, and he would not make it worse by playing games.

  "Khaelryn was captured," he continued. "I do not know the exact date, but it should have been about a week ago."

  The woman nodded, her expression steady. It seemed she had long expected as much. From her perspective, years might have passed. Years spent alone with her thoughts, turning over every possible outcome. She had likely already prepared herself for answers like this.

  "He was taken to a prison camp and forced into an isolation cell," he explained.

  To be fair, he had not learned Khaelryn’s full story himself, but how this prison operated made most of it easy to imagine. Given Khaelryn’s character, Zeke was almost certain he already knew how the man’s confinement had gone.

  "Isolation..." Irisen repeated, a faint tremor running through her. To her credit, she kept her voice steady, and her eyes did not waver. Even so, it was clear that her own time in the Time prison had left scars.

  "Do you know the conditions of his release?" Zeke asked, curious whether she had been offered the same terms.

  Irisen scoffed. "To cut off his ears, no doubt. To mutilate the very essence of his being for a chance at freedom." The disgust in her voice made her opinion of that offer abundantly clear.

  Zeke nodded quietly.

  "Do you know which prison he was taken to?" Irisen asked, a note of urgency in her voice. "I want him freed from that darkness as soon as possible."

  "There is no need to hurry. He is no longer confined."

  "Was it you who saved him? You have my tha—"

  "No," Zeke cut her off, extinguishing the warmth that had crept into her voice. "I did not free him, and neither did anyone else..."

  Zeke waited, meeting her gaze without offering further explanation.

  Confusion.

  Shock.

  Doubt.

  Disbelief.

  Anger.

  Her expression shifted through more emotions in those few moments than he had seen throughout their entire conversation so far. At last, her face settled back into the same neutral mask, though her eyes had grown even colder.

  "You lie," she said, her voice firm. "He would not."

  Zeke did not look away, holding her stare without flinching. They remained locked in silence until, at last, he caught the faintest crack in her confidence, though she was still far from trusting him.

  The standoff stretched on, the room utterly silent.

  "That is not the end of the story," he said. "Do you want to hear the rest?"

  Irisen hesitated, then nodded slowly. Zeke had no doubt she distrusted his words greatly, but enough uncertainty remained for her to listen.

  "After arranging his own release, he lived as a slave," Zeke continued. "Serving within the prison's false hierarchy as one of its lowest members."

  Irisen clenched her teeth.

  "The ones ruling over him were not his human captors, but his own brothers and sisters, driven to work against each other in a meaningless game of power. A sick game, played according to the design of a depraved mind." His gaze shifted to the dead Mage lying in the corner of the room.

  "Khaelryn might have lived that way until today, if not for one thing," Zeke continued, then raised a finger and pointed at her. "He was recognized. Recognized as your husband. You, the Archmage Irisen."

  She leaned forward slightly, hanging on his every word as the story approached its end.

  "He was brought here, into this very chamber. No more than a few steps from you. Here, he was given another choice."

  "...What choice?" Her voice was hoarse.

  Zeke paused, recalling the words she had used earlier to describe the Geistreich's offer. She had called it the mutilation of one's very essence. At its core, that was exactly the choice Khaelryn had been given. And for the second time, he had failed it.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "He was asked to betray you."

  "Lies... He wouldn't..." Her protest was weak now, spoken more out of obligation than belief. It was as if she already sensed what was coming next.

  Zeke let the silence stretch. He wanted to give her a moment to brace herself. What came next would likely shatter her marriage, along with whatever feelings she still held for the man.

  "Your sister," he said, watching horror spread across her face, "is hiding in a sanctuary to the northeast."

  Irisen froze, her face draining of color. She did not even seem to breathe, standing rigid like a statue.

  "How... could you possibly know that?"

  Her words were barely audible, more a plea than a question. Her eyes were begging him to say it was all a lie. A test. A cruel joke. Anything.

  Zeke wanted nothing more than to give her that comfort. But he would not. He could not. Allowing false hope would only make the truth harder to face.

  "I know her location because he told me himself," Zeke said quietly. "He even offered to instruct me on how to avoid the creature guarding her."

  The light in Irisen's eyes dimmed, though it did not vanish entirely. "He must have recognized you as an ally," she said faintly. "He must have been trying to protect her."

  Zeke shook his head. He could not allow even this last refuge. "I told him I would use her to threaten you. To make you serve me. I told him I would kill everyone in that sanctuary."

  With every word, Irisen seemed to crumble further, as if each sentence struck at her very soul.

  It hurt to witness such a change. Yet despite the pain he was causing, there was one final truth he had to reveal.

  "...I have reason to believe that he revealed her location to the Legion as well."

  Irisen seemed to crumble, like a fortress that could no longer withstand a siege. Its walls fell, its gates breached, and all hope appeared lost. The domineering woman from before, the noble princess, had lost her glow, her confidence, her bearing.

  "How could... he do this...?"

  Her words were barely audible. "She... is lost? Why did I even... Dahlia... Dahlia..."

  Zeke allowed her a moment to face the reality of the situation. But when he heard her murmuring the same name over and over, he knew it was time to stop this downward spiral. What needed to be done was done. The bond between husband and wife had been severed.

  It had been a clear and decisive break, like cutting away a cancerous tumor. But now that the wound had been opened, it was time to heal it.

  People could not live without hope. They needed it even more than food or water. Zeke had stripped it from Irisen to force her to face the truth. Now, it was time to light a new fire.

  "That is not certain," Zeke said. "Your sister may not be lost."

  Irisen barely moved. That was expected. If words alone were enough to restore hope, despair would not exist.

  Fortunately, he had more than empty words to offer.

  "There is one more thing you should know about your husband's betrayal."

  No reaction.

  "...The timing," he added, continuing calmly.

  Still nothing.

  "His betrayal did not happen years ago, or even months or weeks ago."

  That finally drew a response, though only a faint twitch of her long ears. Still, it meant she was listening.

  "He revealed her location less than an hour ago. Likely even more recently."

  Finally, Irisen raised her head, her lifeless eyes meeting his. "Have you not done enough already? Do you find pleasure in giving me false hope, only to tear it away again?"

  Despite her despair, there was still steel in her.

  Zeke smiled gently. "Why do you believe it to be false hope?"

  Her expression remained cold. "The invaders can communicate across vast distances, their thoughts traveling in an instant. There is no way I could reach her in time."

  Zeke nodded, not disputing her words. "That is true. You would never arrive in time. Not only because of the distance, but because you would likely be surrounded before even making it halfway."

  Her expression did not change. She had already known that.

  "...I, on the other hand?" Zeke continued, pointing at himself. "I could reach her in time. I could bring my army. I could even bring you."

  At last, there was a reaction.

  It was subtle, no more than a flicker. A small spark of hope.

  "...What will it take for you to get me there?" she asked.

  Zeke's smile widened. "As I said, I wish to recruit you..."

  Irisen did not even wait for him to finish. It took her only a moment to weigh her options and decide. She was as decisive in action as she was in speech.

  She dropped to one knee. "I, Irisen, Flower of the East, swear that—"

  "No!"

  She looked up at him, pure confusion on her face.

  "No," Zeke repeated, more softly. "You misunderstand."

  "...What else could you possibly want from me?" she snapped. The anger was clear. She had been willing to kneel, to swear loyalty, to cast aside her pride for her sister's sake.

  And still, she had been refused.

  Yet Zeke had no choice but to stop her. Her oath was exactly what he wanted. But not in this way.

  Zeke stepped forward, moving for the first time since he had cleared the exit for her. In slow, measured steps, he approached the kneeling half-elf. Her tattered white dress was stained with dust and debris from kneeling in the underground prison.

  He loomed over her, and standing so close, he noticed for the first time how narrow her shoulders were, how slender her arms. For all the strength and bravado Irisen possessed, her body was still that of a young woman.

  Zeke looked down at her, meeting her eyes. He could see the anger within her, likely seething beneath the surface. Even so, she kept it tightly restrained. It was an impressive display of control. This was a dangerous woman, someone capable of mastering her temper for the sake of a greater goal.

  It only made him want her more.

  "I do not want your oath," he said.

  "Then tell me what you want. If it is something I can give, I will."

  "...Nothing."

  He could see her patience fraying.

  "WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?"

  Zeke's smile softened. "That was my mistake. I should have been clearer. I meant that I want nothing in return for helping you."

  Irisen froze, her anger giving way to confusion.

  "I will help you. I swear it on my name."

  She remained silent for a moment, staring up at him in utter disbelief.

  "...Why?" she finally asked.

  "Because I want to recruit you," Zeke replied. "I want you to guard my back, to support my ambitions, to face my enemies as if they were your own."

  Irisen listened without interrupting.

  "But how could I ask you to fight for my dreams if I was not willing to fight for yours?"

  "I do not want you to kneel before me," he said, slowly extending his hand. "I want you to stand by my side."

  Irisen looked from Zeke's face to the offered hand, then back again. Slowly, almost like a skittish animal, she raised her own hand, as if expecting him to pull away at any moment.

  Zeke waited patiently. It felt like an eternity as she inched closer, but at last, her cold skin touched his.

  He closed his larger palm around hers and gently pulled her up. A moment later, Irisen stood before him. There was a new look in her eyes now, uncertainty mixed with a hint of anticipation.

  She did not yet fully trust his words.

  But she was giving him the chance to prove that he was who he claimed to be, and Zeke would not waste it.