FAELAN'S POV
I stared at the rune freshly burned into the back of my hand—dark, sharp, shaped like the head of a spear. Still warm from the magic’s bite. Still settling into my skin.
A rune forged only moments ago when their vows sealed with mine.
Across from me, Garron held up his own hand as if testing whether the mark was real.
Niles and Nyelle angled theirs toward the light, grinning as though they’d won something… or claimed something. Renli, quieter than the rest, brushed her thumb along her rune’s outline, her expression unreadable.
Four brand-new runes. Four newly sworn protectors.
“Thank you for agreeing to this,” I said. “You didn’t need to bind yourselves to prove your loyalty, yet you still chose to. And that choice humbles me.”
I meant every word. Their devotion was
