Kael’s POV
The wind carried unease into the fortress long before the guards announced a visitor.
By morning, the frost hadn’t melted from the courtyard. The men scraped it from the flagstones only for it to return within the hour, thin and glittering like the residue of a dream.
No one spoke of what they’d seen the night before, yet everyone knew. Fear traveled faster than orders.
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When the first horns sounded at the gate, I was already in the war room with Eryndor and Jarek. The map on the table looked wrong—lines and borders drawn by mortal hands suddenly felt fragile compared to whatever pressed against us from beyond the mountains.
Jarek entered, breath visible in the cold air. “He’s here.”
Eryndor stiffened. “He?”
“The envoy,” Jarek said. “Claims he was summoned.”
“I sent
