VALERIE.
The castle no longer slept.
Even at dawn, when the world should have been quiet, war drums beat softly beneath the floor. Smiths pounded steel in the forges. Spellbinders whispered incantations into wind-blown banners. Runners darted down corridors carrying urgent scrolls and sigil-marked stones. Everyone prepared for the inevitable. I stood on the battlements wrapped in furs, watching smoke rise from the mountain forges beyond the valley. We were readying for a battle that might end everything.
And I had never felt more awake.
Behind me, the door creaked.
Jason stepped out, his breath fogging in the morning air. “Couldn’t sleep?” “Didn’t try.”
He leaned on the stone wall beside me. “Do you think we’re doing enough? ”I didn’t answer, because what is ever enough when your wor
