"Strength comes in many forms. But sometimes, it is born in the space between fury and control."
The air inside the war room carried the weight of unfinished battles. Every conversation and every glance exchanged between nobles, commanders, and allies held a new edge after the betrayal. The trust had become a fragile thing—easily cracked, nearly impossible to mend
I sat at the head of the table, my hands flat against the polished surface, listening as Asher laid out the strategy for the coming days. He spoke with measured precision, his voice steady, but beneath the calm, I knew his mind was running through every possible scenario.
We had traitors inside our walls. We had enemies outside of them. And between all of it, Verauno stood balanced on the edge of something neither of us could
