The snow outside had stopped by morning, leaving the Keep shrouded in a pale, brittle quiet. But inside Elinora’s chamber, the air was heavy — wrong.
The obsidian disk was gone.
She’d searched the entire room twice already, pulling back the blankets, checking the wardrobe, even kneeling to look beneath the bed. It was nowhere. The small depression it had left in the table’s surface was the only proof it had ever been there.
Her wolf paced inside her, restless. He took it.
She didn’t need to ask who.
The bond tugged sharply, pulling her toward the North Wing. She followed it through the narrow servant passages until the air turned colder, the shadows deeper. She found Riven in his study, speaking in low tones to Varric, the broad-shouldered guard who had always kept a wary eye on her.
