Brielle’s POV
Sylvia entered the Great Hall.
She walked in like she always had: shoulders squared, chin high, lips curled in that faint smile that used to unnerve people into silence.
But not tonight.
Tonight, they weren’t afraid of her.
They were watching her.
Weighing her.
Judging her.
The air was thick with it:quiet fury. Disappointment. Suspicion that had finally taken root and turned to something sharper.
Conviction.
Jake stood at the head of the hall, arms folded, unreadable. Elder Meryl sat to his left, her fingers steepled in thought. Simon and Jade flanked the side walls with the rest of the council, silent and still.
And me?
I stood near the hearth, watching the woman who had spent her life trying to gut me from the inside.
She looked straight ahead, like she didn’t
