A younger voice, from the Clearwater clan, spoke up with the righteous fury of someone who hadn’t yet learned that justice and vengeance were often incompatible. “And Selene? If she’s hiding, it means she knows what’s coming. She was part of the original deception. Exile isn’t enough.”
This sparked immediate debate. Some voices rose in agreement. Selene Wolfe had orchestrated decades of deception, manipulated bloodlines, and caused untold suffering. Others argued for restraint, pointing out that her cooperation might be necessary to understand and counter Ezra’s plague.
The chamber erupted into a dozen simultaneous conversations, each more heated than the last. Accusations flew between families with old grudges. Alliances that had held for generations began to show cracks under the press
