Caspian’s POV
There are few things I despise more than uncertainty.
Uncertainty weakens leaders. It splits judgment like an unhealed wound. In my young age, I was taught to kill doubt before it took root, because once it does, it grows like a parasite. It eats at clarity, at conviction, at trust, at just everything.
And now, I am facing the plague.
I sat alone in the war chamber, the fire burning low in the hearth. The walls, once silent stone, seemed to press inward, whispering things I didn’t want to hear. My hands were clasped before me, elbows braced on the table, eyes fixed on the silver crest embedded in the wood, a wolf devouring a snake.
But who was the wolf now? And who was the snake?
Namiko’s voice still echoed in my ears.
“I came to you for protection.”
“If you think I’m
