Bramwell's POV
The Alpha's shadow.
I turned the phrase over in my mind for two days after Lenora told me, running it against every face I trusted.
Daren: impossible. I had known Daren for fifteen years. He had stood at my shoulder through every difficulty with the consistency of something structural rather than personal. I would sooner suspect myself.
My guard captain, Aldric: possible. He had been appointed three years ago, during the period when Marcelline's influence had been strongest. I examined his record without finding anything definitive.
The council members I'd kept: four out of twelve, the ones whose names the inquiry had cleared. One of them, Elder Fenn, had been unusually quiet throughout the proceedings. Quiet in the way of a man managing something internally.
Then Leno
