Morning came quietly to Blackwood.
No frozen sun.
No ancient voice under the floors.
No crown trying to decide who anyone should become.
Just morning.
Light slipped through the broken windows and spilled across the damaged entrance hall. Snow had drifted in through the shattered frames. Warriors moved through the manor carrying timber, blankets, tools, and steaming cups of coffee.
Blackwood looked wounded.
But alive.
Luna stood on the balcony outside Darius’s room, watching the estate wake up.
She hadn’t slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucian disappearing through the doorway.
She still felt Darius’s grief beside her, even though he was inside.
Quiet.
Carefully contained.
Too carefully.
The balcony door opened.
Darius stepped out into the cold wearing dark tro
