Olivia’s POV
I woke to the sound of wind in the eaves and the cold press of dawn through heavy curtains. For a heartbeat I lay there, listening to Lucas breathe beside me, steady and sure, and let myself pretend the world was not a blade poised to fall.
The pretence lasted until I remembered the necklace in Emily’s hand and the hush that had followed her words. Proof. She’d promised proof. She had already turned our life into a story she wanted the council to read, and now every page felt like flammable paper.
I dressed in silence. The chamber’s torchlight threw amber shapes on the stone, but my hands didn’t tremble—there was no time for trembling. There was only work to be done.
Lucas rose when I left the bed. He moved like a man who had spent the night wrestling with ghosts. I watche
