The mark on Rowan’s palm had stopped glowing, but the heat hadn’t left him.
It throbbed beneath his skin like a second heartbeat.
Each pulse whispered something new. Something… old.
Not in words.
But in intention.
Power didn’t just sit in his bones now—it watched. And worse, it remembered.
The Echo of Sovereigns Past
Kaelen’s voice, usually an ancient steadiness in Rowan’s mind, sounded different now. Tighter. Strained.
“You’ve opened the next gate.”
“What gate?” Rowan asked aloud, standing from the grave.
“The one that doesn’t close once it's been touched by sacrifice. Mira’s death didn’t just grieve your bloodline—it activated it.”
“So now what? I’m stronger?”
“No,” Kaelen said darkly. “Now you’re seen.”
The silence that followed cut deeper than Kaelen’s words.
Seen by who?
