Chapter 25: How to Lose a Kingdom in Ten Steps or Less
Brelgrik was sitting as if he had collapsed there, the body hunched, head bowed, hands trembling like dry leaves. But the eyes... the eyes had begun to shine again.
Not with madness.
With memory.
There was something in the air. A weight that wasn't mine. It was his. And no matter how loud my leg screamed for me to keep walking, no matter how much my survival instinct yelled "drop the goblin and follow the light," I stayed.
Because there was a story here.
And if there's one thing worth more than gold...
It's the ugly truth kept by someone who's already lost everything.
"So," I said, leaning against a stone and trying to find a position where my spine wouldn't protest, "what exactly brought you down? A love scandal? A coup? Or were you just really bad with spreadsheets?"
He didn't laugh. Didn't even react.
He just spoke.
Low.