Kael’s POV
There were nights when the fortress felt too small for the weight inside it.
Nights like this — where the air pressed too heavily against the stone, and the torches flickered as though something unseen passed between them.
The moon wasn’t full yet, but she was close.
Close enough to sharpen every doubt I’d tried to bury.
Close enough that the light slanting through the arrow slits felt more like surveillance than illumination.
If I were a superstitious man, I’d say she was watching us.
Watching me.
Watching her.
But superstition is useless to a commander.
Only information matters.
And everything I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours told me the same truth:
Ravaryn was being outmaneuvered.
Quietly.
Beautifully.
Fatally.
---
I didn’t go back to my chambers aft
