The air in Thornhaven was heavier than Nova remembered.
Not with dust or decay, but with memory. With truth.
She walked the stone halls of the fortress alone, torches flickering in the sconces like they recognized her. Like they whispered, Welcome home, daughter of secrets.
Her mother had lived.
Had lied.
Had died in silence to protect a truth that Nova was only now unraveling.
“Verdance,” she whispered into the shadows, and the name felt like acid on her tongue.
Her mother was one of them.
She tried to breathe, to reason, but her heart felt caged in a box of thorns. The prophecy… her daughter… the truth…
All of it was tangled.
Elsewhere, Liam stood watch over the sea wall, eyes trained on the horizon.
He didn’t like the calm.
Not after what they’d learned.
He wasn’t just prot
