The silence after Kael’s departure was more deafening than the unmaking. The space where the blue-eyed rogue had been was a vacuum that seemed to suck the warmth from the world. Brynnan, the Frostfang envoy, stood frozen, his pale face slack with a terror that went beyond physical fear. He had seen a fundamental law broken. His glacial blue eyes were wide, fixed on the empty patch of frosted grass.
Elara’s own guards were statues, their weapons half-lowered, caught between their duty to her and the primal instinct to flee from what they’d just witnessed. Gorven was the first to move, swallowing hard and stepping closer to her, his sword pointed shakily at Brynnan. “You heard him. Deliver the message. Then get out of our territory.”
Brynnan’s gaze slowly dragged from the emptiness to Elar
