Chapter 41
Elara’s POV
The banners of war snapped above us, their colors dulled by dust and ash as our caravan wound its way along the scarred road. I had traveled before, but never like this—never surrounded by armored men with faces hardened by loss, never with the weight of an army’s hopes pressing on my shoulders.
The further we marched from the palace, the heavier the air grew. The villages that dotted the countryside bore wounds no physician could heal. Burned houses leaned like broken teeth against the sky. Smoke still clung to the earth, stubborn as grief. And everywhere—everywhere—there were eyes watching us: hollow, weary, clinging to scraps of survival.
I dismounted when we reached the first village. My guards tensed, but I ignored them. These people didn’t need steel—they n
