Elara POV
The shadows in the corner of Kael’s office didn't stop moving until he slammed a heavy silver paperweight onto his desk, and the sudden sharp ring of metal against wood seemed to break whatever dark spell was trying to crawl across the floor toward my feet. He didn't even acknowledge the strange darkness; he just sat there with a mountain of maps and reports scattered in front of him, and he expected me to stand there by the bookshelf and organize every single patrol log. At the same time, my shoulder felt as if it were being branded with a hot iron.
"You’ve been staring at that same map of the eastern valley for ten minutes, Elara, so either you’re looking for a way to run, or you’re even worse at clerical work than you are at hiding your identity," Kael said, his voice sou
