Aria’s POV
The letter arrived by messenger three days after Aria sent it, and I read it twice before fully absorbing what she was proposing. Cooperation between our territories. A shared response to a threat that clearly hadn't ended the way any of us had hoped when we walked out of that chamber weeks earlier.
I found Ethan in the study, going over pack finances now that the immediate crisis had settled enough to return attention to ordinary governance.
"Magnus survived," I said, setting the letter on his desk. "He's searching for fragments of power scattered across old battlefields. Aria's proposing we help identify relevant sites within our territory."
Ethan read the letter carefully, his expression darkening with each line. "This isn't over, then. I'd allowed myself to hope it migh
