Brielle’s POV
The scroll arrived in the early hours, hand-delivered by a courier cloaked in gray. He didn’t speak. Didn’t even lift his hood. Just bowed low, offered the letter, and vanished into the fog curling over the northern courtyard.
I stood with the seal still unbroken in my hands, my fingers cold despite the fire crackling nearby.
It was heavier than it should’ve been.
Not in weight, but in implication.
Beside me, Jade and Simon hovered. Both had seen the delivery. Both knew what it meant. The last time a sealed scroll arrived without warning, it ended with my hands shaking and my heart buried somewhere in my throat.
Jake hadn’t come in yet.
He was still walking the perimeter, a new habit he’d picked up since the box had arrived. I didn’t know if it was to protect the borde
