The air was sharp and cold as we stood near the main gates, the torches flickering against the twilight sky. Elias stood beside me, his jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the figure at the threshold. The guards flanked him, tense and ready, their hands twitching near the hilts of their weapons.
"I don’t trust him," I muttered, eyeing the man dressed in worn leathers, his hood down, his face half-shadowed by the dying light.
"You don’t have to," Elias replied, low and calm. "That’s why I’m here."
The man stepped forward slowly, his arms raised. "I come in peace. My name is Kael. I was once an advisor to Magnus's father."
My breath caught. "That name means nothing to us now."
He glanced at me, his gaze sharp but not unkind. "It should. Because I know what Magnus has planned. And more important
