Ella's POV
I stood just outside the Council Chamber as torchlight spilled through the carved door, heated murmurs and metal-clad footsteps echoing on cold stone floors. My skin prickled—not just from the tension, but from an undercurrent I couldn't name. Something more than the witches' threats was stirring.
Remo waited for me by the threshold, arms folded, jaw clenched. He held my gaze without looking, steady and dark as obsidian. I nodded once, then stepped inside.
The chamber's shape hadn't changed: a semicircle of elder thrones carved from mountain stone, each etched with runes of lineage and law. Today, though, it crackled with unease. The Elders—Alaric, Eira, Thorne, Lucin, Selene—and two council captains waited.
Remo cleared his throat. "Bring it in."
Christian and Maddox ente
