The coastal fortress rose from the cliffs like something the sea itself had tried and failed to reclaim, weathered gray stone standing against a sky heavy with clouds rolling in from the water.
"We should turn back," I said, pulling my horse to a stop at the tree line overlooking the approach. "Find another way to reach the border packs without walking her directly into whatever Bren prepared."
"There is no other way," Elder Mira said. "The hearing was already announced. If we fail to appear, every pack watching will assume guilt, regardless of the reason."
"Then we go carefully," Elara said, steadier than I expected given everything Ronan had just explained. "I did not come this far to run from a building."
"This is not simple caution," I said. "If that fortress holds old magic the sa
