A Truth Unmasked
Dawn's light filtered through the high windows of the Grand Hall as Vera Lanst took her place at the dais. Her gray cloak—stitched with Wolf-Guard silver—draped over her shoulders, and her eyes, though rimmed with fatigue, shone with resolve. Around her, the newly convened Circle of the Wolf Moon assembled: Baroness Merrow, the mountain chieftains, wolf-shamans, city magistrates—and Cassius, pale and trembling, standing beneath the imperial banner he once flew.
A hush fell as the hall doors burst open. An elder cloaked in ash-gray furs entered, leaning on a carved staff topped with a moonstone. Her white hair flowed like drifting snow; her eyes, clouded yet piercing, swept the assembly.
“Queen Thera," she intoned, voice like distant wind. “I am Seer Rowena of Grayrock.
