Alaric
The air in the Grand Hall was thick enough to choke on. The tension rippled like a living thing, and I could hear the shallow breaths, the faint shuffling of shoes, the creak of chairs as no one dared to move too abruptly. My announcement still hung in the air like thunder that hadn’t yet faded.
Then, with the slow grace of age and authority, the oldest man in the room rose to his feet. He used a carved wooden cane to steady himself, its golden handle gleaming from the sunlight. His movements were deliberate, unhurried, as if he knew that even time would wait for him to speak.
Elder Dietrich.
The name surfaced in my mind almost immediately, along with every scrap of information Roderick had ever relayed to me about him. He’d served as Beta under Kelly’s grandparents, back when t
