Brielle’s POV
I wasn’t expecting much from the meeting.
Just the usual: reports, resource tallies, maybe a few passive-aggressive comments from the old guard about how diplomacy wasn’t as “clean” as border patrols.
What I didn’t expect was to be reminded,again,that my name still sat in other people’s mouths like it was something to twist.
The wind outside the council chamber was sharp that morning, cutting against the back of my neck as I passed through the east hallway. It reminded me of sitting with Jade a few days ago: her eyes locked on Simon and that Hollowcreek envoy, muttering under her breath like she was one more giggle away from committing homicide.
And yet she’d made me laugh.
Even in the middle of everything falling apart, she’d made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the fig
