Alpheo exhaled through his nose, his fingers drumming lightly on the map as he swept his gaze over the gathered men. He had asked the question once already, yet no one had answered. He let the silence settle, a weight in the air as each of them mulled over the matter, brows furrowed in contemplation.
Then, unexpectedly, a voice cut through the stillness—not from one of the grizzled general that witnessed more wars than any in the tent nor the seasoned lords that accompanied Alpheo since his presence in Yarzat, but from the man least expected to speak.
Jared.
Alpheo's brow rose slightly, not out of disdain but out of surprise. Jared had been silent for most of the war council, always present at his father's side yet never offering his own input. He was not a man of few words in general, but here, in the presence of hardened commanders and ruthless warriors, he had chosen to observe rather than contribute. Until now.
