"Wars are not only fought with steel. The greatest battles begin in the mind, where doubt and fury clash long before the first strike is thrown."
The council chamber was suffocating. Every word spoken carried the weight of what was to come, yet none of them dared to name it.
War.
We were past the point of diplomacy, past negotiations and cautious manoeuvring.
The conspirators had spent too long threading their poison through Verauno, and now they had gathered their forces, waiting just beyond the borders.
I stood at the long table, my fingers pressing into the wood as I took in the gathered nobles and commanders. They looked to me for direction, but I could see the questions flickering behind their eyes. Would I lose control? Could I be trusted? Was I truly their queen?
Idris was the
