——
“ 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. “

The knight’s eyes start to lose focus ever so slightly, distracted by old memories.

And you look like the wrong end of a diseased donkey, I wouldn’t suggest trying to compete.

And please don’t delude yourself, it’s a very poor look. Almost as poor as your visage.

. . Also, you’re ugly.

——
𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴. “

It was partially a bluff. Elizabeth wasn’t one of those Horkos psychopaths who are just as likely to murder you as they are to look at you.

But it’s not easy to call the bluff of a woman poised to open up your throat.

——
Slowly, deliberately, the Lord Warden took a few steps back, giving this poor, distinctly irritating soul a bit more breathing room.

“ 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵
——

clench with fury. Not everyone shares her sentiments, and it’s something she has to deal with on a daily basis.

——
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. “

“ . . 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. “

Her gauntleted hands
——