----Elaine----
The Book of the Law closed with a heavy thud that seemed to echo through the hall. Kave set it down with a careful reverence, his large hands resting briefly on its worn cover before he straightened to his full height. His presence filled the room so easily, so naturally, that silence followed without him needing to demand it. He had a way of holding us all in his gravity.
“Due to Thomas’s accident,” he began, his voice low and measured, “I’m declaring much of the woods out of bounds.”
A ripple of unease moved through the gathering. His eyes—those piercing gray eyes that could steady me with a single look—swept across the room, challenging any dissent. No one spoke.
“The primary pathways will remain open,” he continued, “and I’ve doubled patrols in those areas. But we ca
