The silence after that was a different kind of silence. Not the silence of a standoff. The silence of something true taking up space in a room.
Kael spoke. "Why now. You've had this information since he died. Why not use it before the Hall? Before the rite?"
Aldric looked at his son. Something complicated passed between them, the compressed language of a father and son who have spent years speaking entirely in subtext.
"Because before the Hall," Aldric said slowly, "she wasn't powerful enough for it to be interested. And I thought if she never reached full power, the problem solved itself." His eyes came back to me. "I was wrong about that too."
Jax, from his position near the door, said quietly: "So it's going to come for her."
"It already has," Aldric said. "Last night was introduct
