SKYE'S POV
The late afternoon sun hung low over the western ridge, casting a brilliant, golden amber wash across the ancient stone battlements of Nighthaven. Down in the valley, the shadows of the high pines stretched long and dark across the emerald-green meadows, and the distant, rushing roar of the glacial river carried a soothing, rhythmic cadence through the calm summer air.
I sat at the heavy oak desk in our private chambers, finally closing the architectural drafts for the lower village library with a quiet, satisfied sigh. The final estimates had been checked, the timber supplies verified, and Kael’s obsessive financial audits successfully appeased. For the first time in three weeks, the ink pots were capped, and the parchment scrolls were neatly stacked in their proper leather b
