Kael’s POV
Trust is a fragile thing. Once cracked, even truth sounds like a lie.
By dawn, I’d already memorized the shape of the false seal. Every curve, every indentation of wax — a perfect imitation.
Too perfect.
Someone wanted this to look deliberate.
Someone wanted me to see it.
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The council gathered again that morning, their voices blending with the steady hiss of falling snow outside.
I kept the forged parchment folded inside my coat as I watched them argue about supplies, patrol routes, rations — the day-to-day noise of a kingdom pretending it wasn’t rotting from within.
Elder Thasson pressed the issue of the missing wagons again. “If our provisions are being rerouted, then someone in this very hall is a traitor,” he said.
“Be careful, Elder,” Jarek warned. “That word s
