His voice cracked with a sudden, sharp surge of rage. "If you ever touch her again, if you even look at her with that pathetic, grasping longing, friendship be damned. I will end you. I will erase your name from the histories and turn your kingdom into a graveyard of ice. Do you understand me?"
Caelen let out a short, bitter laugh, a sound of pure, exhausted pain. "Friendship?" He met Soren's eyes, his own gray irises finally clear of the black smudge of the ring. "Why are you pretending we're still friends, Soren? The moment you decided to take her from me, our brotherhood was a lie."
Caelen glanced weakly at Eris, his expression a map of ruin. "You married my wife. You took the mother of my son and placed her on a throne beside you. And you ask about friendship?"
