The council chamber buzzed like a nest of hornets as Lou and I entered. Whispers hissed along the crystal pillars, glances darting toward the Heart Stone glowing steady in my arms. The scent of burned hunters still clung to my skin, a reminder of the fight we had just survived.
“She brings dragonfire into our sacred hall,” one councilor spat.
“She is no longer truly Fae,” another muttered, voice sharp as a knife.
“The Heart has been corrupted.”
The hawk-faced elder stepped forward, robes snapping around his legs. His voice carried, cutting through the murmurs like steel. “You saw her at the gates. She did not wield the Heart as Keeper. She unleashed it as weapon—twined with dragon fire. She is not our heir. She is his.”
Gasps and nods rippled. Lou’s chest rumbled like a brewing storm.
