The excited glint Ajab carried toward the training grounds vanished the moment he stepped inside.
Lord Halh stood at the center of the grounds, rigid and looming, like a scythe left upright in soil soaked with blood. Beside him was Elmah, drenched in sweat, breath heavy—clearly having pushed himself beyond restraint.
None of that was what soured Ajab's mood.
It was the crowd.
He had looked forward to today—training freely with Elmah, especially now that the Eyes of Ecnes had awakened. Instead, the grounds were crowded with presence. Generals Roah, Linh, and Toah stood watching—third, fourth, and fifth in rank, beneath only Znoh and Yoab, who were absent as they should be. This was his training floor, not the King's Court. Ajab's brows drew together.
He didn't mind being watched. What he despised was being treated like spectacle.
And the generals weren't the worst of it.
Duke Ecnes was present as well, standing with composed authority, and beside him Lady Anya—the young mistress of House Ecnes, greatest of the noble families beneath the Crown, long revered as the Kings' right hand. She was also an assistant commander under the Ruby Battalion. Ajab couldn't tell whom her presence represented—but he doubted it was coincidence.
Every person gathered carried weight—authority earned through strength, accomplishment, and blood. That was precisely the problem. They had no business here. Aside from Duke Ecnes, none of them should even be near the capital, much less standing around to watch him train. These were his grounds, for as long as he occupied them.
Then another presence arrived.
She took a seat above them all.
The moment Queen Stiana entered, every head bowed.
"Your Highness."
She raised a hand. "Rise."
Whatever motherly charisma she had before had disappeared, and was now replaced with, firm steadiness, that came with an authoritative aura, but it had a certain grace accompanying it.
Everyone seemed eager, expectant.
Ajab wasn't moving an inch without an explanation.
As if answering that demand, Lady Liah stepped to his side.
"Your Highness," she said softly, "they were meeting with the King. When word spread that young master Elmah had awakened the Eyes of Ecnes—the first since the progenitor—and that he would be facing you, they came to witness it."
Ajab nodded once. That much made sense. Even he wouldn't have missed it.
The Eyes of Ecnes were said to grant an extraordinary edge—though no one knew precisely how. Every child of House Ecnes underwent the Ecnes Dipping to awaken their bloodline. Some emerged as geniuses, like Duke Ecnes. Some as fighters, like Lady Anya. Some as both, like Lord Halh.
Elmah was different.
His eyes had remained dormant for years, awakening only months ago—and even then, without glow or flare until recently. During their last spar, Elmah had spoken of seeing motion frozen in fragments, his reaction speed leaping beyond normal limits. Unrefined. Incomplete. Hence the night hunts. The secrecy.
But of course the best way to spend a day was to think of a nice pose and demeanor. Taking a glance at the Queen he nodded. If that wasn't hard work, what would one call it? –He thought.