A Crown of Ash and Hope
Smoke still curled from Iron Ridge's smoldering ruins when Vera Lanst led her council through the shattered gates at dawn. The mountain air was thin and cold, but the cheers of freed captives and wolf-shadows greeted them like warm flame. Behind her, Baroness Merrow oversaw the tending of wounded, while Magistrate Belwright delivered grain to grateful villagers.
Vera paused on the threshold, surveying the ruined fortress that had nearly become her tomb. “This place stands testament to betrayal—and to our survival," she said, voice carrying over the gathered crowd. “Let its stones guide our renewal."
Yurian Helios stepped beside her, cloak still stained with soot. He slung a forged iron circlet—once part of the siege machinery—around Vera's shoulders. “A crown of
