Lorien POV

I couldn’t afford to let my emotions take the reins. Not now. I needed strategy clarity.

Lucen had given me exactly what I came for: confirmation that he was protecting whoever was responsible… or at the very least, protecting someone involved. I doubted his direct participation he’d been chained, after all but silence was its own confession.

Whether he agreed with their actions or simply cared for the person behind them, I didn’t know. Maybe I never would.

But Auren ...