THE FRACTURE BENEATH PEACE
Peace did not arrive like a celebration.
It came quietly.
Too quietly.
Three days after the eclipse, the valley looked whole again. The grass had been trampled but not destroyed. Blood had washed into the soil with the rain that followed. The sky had cleared into a bright, indifferent blue.
But something had shifted.
Elara felt it before anyone spoke of it.
She stood alone at the edge of the training grounds, fingers brushing the thin silver circlet resting against her brow. It felt lighter than it had the night of the eclipse.
And heavier.
Wolves bowed when they passed her now.
Not deeply. Not dramatically.
But noticeably.
The warmth she once felt from the pack casual laughter, easy proximity had thinned into reverence.
Respect had replaced familiar
