Chapter 408: Bener and The Temptress
The wind that swept through the shattered windows of Marquina Manor carried the scent of blood. The banners had changed—Estalian blue torn down and replaced with the golden eagle of the North—but Carles was still holding its breath. Smoke lingered in alleyways. Blood had not yet dried on the stones.
In Bener’s bedroom—one of the few rooms not desecrated by the Zurans and Estalians—he stood by the window, his armor unstrapped, a goblet in hand, though he’d not drunk from it. His mind was still on the battle: the way Merlin had risen in the chaos, the crack of Aldrin’s armor splitting under Odin’s final blow, and the silence that followed. A silence louder than war.
"I must say," came a voice behind him, velvet-soft and edged like silk over steel, "you Northems clean up rather well—once the blood’s washed off."
He turned. "You..."
Briella.
She leaned against the carved doorway as though she still owned the place, her silhouette framed in the amber glow of the morning sun. Draped in a dress of deep crimson that clung to her like a lover’s grip, she looked like a figure out of a painting—dangerous, decadent, and utterly at ease. Her black curls cascaded over one shoulder, and a chain of rubies caught the light at her throat, glowing like drops of fresh blood.
"You shouldn’t be here," Bener said, his tone even. "Estalian collaborators were ordered to report to the town square for questioning."
"’Collaborator’ is such a heavy word," she murmured, stepping into the room with the grace of a cat. "I prefer... survivor."
His hand tightened on the goblet. The guards stationed outside tensed but made no move. She was unarmed, after all. Or appeared to be.
The door to his bedroom closed.
"I’ve come to offer congratulations," Briella said, circling slowly toward the table between them. Her fingers traced the edge of the goblet he had set down, her nails painted the color of dried wine. "And perhaps... a gesture of good faith."
He said nothing. He watched her with narrowed eyes and he waited.