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The meeting ended the way all dangerous things did.
Quietly.
There was no dramatic dismissal, no clash of voices or slammed doors. Just a gradual unraveling of attention. Elders rising one by one, cloaks drawn close, expressions carefully neutral as they filed out of the chamber carrying decisions that would reshape more than they admitted aloud.
I rose when it felt right.
Not too early. Not last.
Raiden’s attention brushed mine as I did, sharp and measuring, but he didn’t stop me. He didn’t need to. The decision had already been made. Anything beyond that was… theatre.
The corridor beyond the council chamber was colder than the room we’d left behind. Stone walls drank the warmth of the torches, stretching shadows long and thin across the floor. My steps echoed softly, control
