SKYE'S POV
The revelation struck the courtyard like a physical blow.
The cold wind of the southern hills seemed to freeze in our throats, the silence that followed Malakor’s words so absolute that the distant drip of melting ice from the high ridges sounded like steady drumbeats.
"The western pass," Kael breathed, his face losing what little color it had left. "The western pass is a sheer cliff-road. It’s barely wide enough for two horses abreast. No one in their right mind would march an army through it in the dead of winter."
"Which is exactly why they chose it," I said, my voice tight. My mind raced, mapping the jagged geography of our home. "They knew we would look south. They burned the Whispering Crag not just to punish Vaelen's house, but to pull us, Bradley, and our best fighte
