Herod leaned against the cold bars. "I need to speak with Lucas."
Zoe gave a sharp, humorless laugh. "Keep dreaming. You're not exactly on his dinner guest list."
"Zoe, please." Herod's hands curled around the bars again, but this time in plea. "I've accepted my fate. But I need to know. Before I die. Please… I need to know if Edith is out there. If she's… alive." He looked at her now with unguarded pain. "I know I don't deserve to be a father. Spirits, I barely deserve to speak your name. But if I had known… if I had known about you, Zoe, things would have been different. I would have fought for you. For her. Please… give me this."
Zoe stared at him. For one terrifying second, she saw the truth in his eyes. Not the tyrant. Not the king. Just a broken man who'd once believed in love and was now grasping for its last thread.
