Arielle's POV
The northern alliance signed a temporary ceasefire on the seventh day.
Not because they wanted to. Because three engagements in seven days had cost them numbers they could not replace quickly enough, and the thing at the Nightshade flank that their intelligence had not prepared them for was making it difficult to maintain the rotation strategy that had been working.
Soren called it a tactical pause. Lucien called it a window. Kael called it an opportunity to sleep without one eye open, and then he actually did it, which showed more trust in the assessment than his words did.
We celebrated in the way soldiers celebrate, quietly and with good food and without excessive noise, because the ceasefire was temporary and loudness felt like tempting something.
Wren fell asleep at
