The air in the capital was thick with tension, almost as if the walls themselves were holding their breath. Glosh stood on the high battlements, watching the horizon where Kael had disappeared into the north. Her silver eyes scanned the darkening forest, the growing fires in villages he had already touched flickering faintly in the distance.
She did not speak.
Behind her, the council murmured. Some with admiration. Some with fear. Many with thinly veiled doubt.
“He moves faster than we anticipated,” one general whispered. “If we wait too long, he’ll gain more allies, more influence…”
Glosh’s jaw tightened. “Then we must make every moment count. Every decision must be precise.”
Her gaze didn’t waver. Every word she spoke carried the weight of her crown—but she felt the emptiness in her
