The Predator does not negotiate.
It demonstrates.
⸻
The kingdom of Solareth falls in under a minute.
A golden coastline once ruled by sun-priests and tide-queens simply… stops being sovereign. Borders dissolve without wind. Armies vanish without battle. The crown-city remains standing—
But its authority is gone.
Jason watches the collapse unfold in stunned silence as the arrays fail to interpret what they’re seeing.
“It didn’t destroy the land,” he whispers. “It destroyed the permission for that kingdom to exist as a political organism.”
Zane’s breath comes slow and lethal. “It eliminated an idea.”
I feel the heir tense, a sharp coil of fury and understanding twisting inside my blood.
“They refused the ultimatum,” I whisper.
Jason nods grimly. “They were the first major power to
