Chapter 4: A King's Exit

Chapter 4: A King's Exit

The small pyramid of cardboard coasters stood on the table, a monument to a silent truce. Jacob’s dark eyes were wide, not with fear, but with a bright, nascent understanding. He looked from the completed structure to Alex’s face, a connection forged in a language that had no words.

For a long, suspended moment, the tableau held. At the far end of the table, Cassandra and her family were statues carved from rage and disbelief. The air was thick with their unspoken fury. They had set a bear trap, expecting to catch the wounded animal they remembered, and instead, they had watched a king calmly sit down and teach their own cub a game they couldn't comprehend.

Alex held the boy’s gaze for a second longer. Then, with the same unhurried grace he had displayed throughout the entire interaction, he gently pushed the entire stack of remaining coasters toward the child. It was a transfer of power, a gift of the game itself. He was leaving the tools of order in the small hands that so clearly craved it.

Then he stood.

He didn't look at Cassandra. He didn't acknowledge her fuming husband or her stunned sister. He didn't offer a parting shot or