~ Naomi ~
The day folds around me like smoke. After the war room, I can’t shake the weight of kael’s confession or the sight of ash that no one dares to sweep away. I expect him to leave me alone, to bury himself back in maps and blades, but instead he finds me again before dusk.
“Come,” he says, and it’s not quite an order.
I almost refuse, the word no burning on my tongue. But something in the memory of his face—haunted in that chamber of fire and loss—stays me. So I follow.
This time we don’t descend into shadows.We climb. Stone steps spiral upward, torches hissing at each turn, until the air thins and cools. At the top, he pushes open a wooden door, and light bursts in.
It’s not the throne hall. Not the training yard. It’s the rooftop.
The world spreads wide before us: endle
