Serena’s POV
The estate had fallen into an uneasy quiet after the chaos of the interrupted ceremony but my heart refused to settle. Penelope was safe in a guarded chamber. Gale stood watch outside her door like the loyal shadow he had always been. Liliana and Grey were secured in the dungeons. Their schemes were exposed for the council to judge. Yet as I stood on the moonlit balcony overlooking the darkened grounds the weight of everything we had survived pressed down on me. It mingled with a warmth I had never known before.
Alaric joined me without a word. His tall frame cast a protective shadow as he stepped close. The King of the Obsidian throne the man who had once terrified me as a legend of ice and iron now felt like home. He had ridden across hostile lands for a duplicate treaty.
