POV: David
The wards did not come back.
Not with magic.
Not with blood.
Not with ancient invocation.
They stayed dark.
That alone told me everything I needed to know.
I stood in the war room as dawn bled faintly through the high arched windows, hands braced on the stone table while reports poured in from every sector of the kingdom. Messengers had not even finished riding before the damage was already being felt.
Three border wards failed simultaneously.
Two ancient watchstones went silent.
One of the old moonsigil towers collapsed inward on itself.
This wasn’t a breach.
It was a declaration.
“He crossed a sealed threshold,” Elara said quietly from my right. “The awakening of a firstborn heir with pure Moonblood shattered an ancient balance. The treaties were bound to bloodlin
