CHAPTER 47:
The world outside our window had turned to chaos in the space of a heartbeat. Screams tore through the cold air, steel rang against steel, and the blue-flickering torches cast long, jagged shadows over a valley that minutes ago had been peaceful. Elowen stood on the great hall steps, Valerius beside her like a shadow given form, and her voice boomed across the ridge, cold and sharp as a shard of ice.
“Lay down your arms! The Twin Crown belongs to the Council! Surrender them, and the rest of you may live! Resist… and burn with them!”
“She’s mad,” Kael breathed, stepping beside me at the window, his hand gripping the stone sill until his knuckles went white. “She thinks handing us over will save her people. She thinks they’ll honor the deal.”
“They won’t,” Cole said, already
