"A ruler is not tested by the battles they win, but by the choices they make when the world is burning."
The wind howled through the valley, carrying the scent of war.
Smoke curled in the distance where the enemy forces gathered—a sea of bodies, armour gleaming under the half-light of dawn. The rogue Alpha had come prepared, his army sprawling across the eastern plains like a tide waiting to swallow Verauno whole.
I gripped the hilt of my blade tighter. Every part of me knew this was the moment everything had been leading to.
This was it.
The final stand.
I turned to Asher, his golden eyes scanning the battlefield, calculating, unreadable. He was a fortress, a shield, a king born to lead armies into war.
And yet, for the first time in our long, tangled history, he was looking at me
