The return to the Keep was a different kind of march. The silence that had accompanied our departure was now filled with a low, murmuring energy. The warriors didn't speak to me directly, but I felt their glances, no longer laden with suspicion, but with a dawning, grudging curiosity. The story of what had happened in the misty woods would spread through the ranks faster than any council decree. I had not just saved Fen; I had demonstrated a new kind of warfare, and soldiers, at their core, are pragmatists.
Borin delivered his report directly to Kaelen in the strategy room. I was ordered to wait outside, the stone floor of the corridor cold beneath my boots. I could hear the low rumble of their voices through the thick door, but not the words. My fate, it seemed, was still being decided b
