Kael’s POV
Night stretched long over Ravaryn, a cold sheet of silver draped across every battlement and rooftop.
The moon wasn’t full yet, but she was close — bright enough that the shadows seemed to recoil from her light.
Bright enough that the air felt thinner.
I didn’t sleep.
Sleep was a luxury reserved for men who weren’t being hunted by their own thoughts.
Instead, I walked the west battlements alone. The stones beneath my boots crackled with frost. Each exhale rose as a cloud before dissolving into the frozen air.
From up here, the fortress looked peaceful — a lie I was tired of being offered.
Peace was just the pause between storms. And tonight, I could feel thunder gathering beneath the floorboards.
Selene’s voice lingered in my mind.
Don’t make me live through it again.
