Light fractured across the chamber in jagged streams, searing against stone and glass alike. Alina staggered inside the circle, lungs dragging in air that tasted of metal and ash. The marble beneath her feet groaned, runes flickering between brilliance and collapse.
When the glow thinned enough for her vision to sharpen, she saw the Councilors no longer composed in their benches. Wards flared around some; others stood bare, pale and rigid, eyes locked on her as if she were a blade leveled at their throats.
The weave around her hands unraveled into glittering dust. Her skin burned where the marks lay hidden, the ache so deep it seemed carved into bone.
No one spoke at first. The silence roared louder than the Veil itself.
Then Idran broke it, his voice slicing through the smoke. “She ca
