Rhydian's POV
Piet's report reaches me within minutes of leaving Corwin's training room, and I've barely had time to process the shape of it, something drawn straight to her the moment her fire lit, before I'm called into a council chamber louder than I've heard it in years, half the senior members on their feet, voices overlapping in the particular chaos that happens when fear finds itself an audience.
I take a moment at the door before entering, the way my father used to before difficult meetings, letting the noise inside settle into something I can actually parse instead of walking in already reacting to the loudest voice in the room. It's a habit that's served me well over six years. Tonight it barely holds.
"I'm not suggesting we abandon her," Adrian is saying, hands raised in a pl
