The moment the confession settled over the hall, the entire world seemed to tilt sideways.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The silence that followed Maribel’s words was so complete I could hear the violent crackling of the sacred salt beneath her knees.
Maribel poisoned Maribel.
The confession echoed endlessly through my mind like a curse. The silver flames surrounding the ritual circle surged higher, throwing monstrous shadows across the towering stone walls. Every face in the Great Hall looked carved from shock.
Elder Thorne stared open-mouthed. Elder Bram’s mocking amusement had vanished completely. Even the guards lining the chamber looked pale beneath their wolf marks.
Because self-poisoning was not merely scandalous.
It was monstrous.
A woman deliberately endangering herself whi
