The first lesson was not taught.
It was noticed.
Aurelia stood at the edge of the Stronghold’s inner courtyard, watching from a distance as the first group gathered without her. Six people. No banners. No sigils. No shared allegiance beyond a quiet agreement to listen rather than act.
She had insisted on that condition.
No one spoke her name.
Kane leaned against a pillar beside her, arms folded. “They keep looking over,” he said. “Expecting you to step in.”
“She won’t,” Aurelia said quietly, referring to herself in the third person on purpose. “That’s the point.”
The fracture inside her responded to the choice not with tension, but with a dull ache, like a muscle relearning stillness. Stepping back hurt in a way acting never had.
The Sovereign Alpha approached, expression unreadabl
