The Council Chamber – A Kingdom on Edge
The chamber was suffocating, the torches along the walls flickering against the heavy silence. Shadows danced over the long war table, stretching over the maps and scattered reports like grasping hands. The war had barely ended—Verauno was still licking its wounds—and yet, there was already another threat.
Asher stood beside me, arms crossed, his expression a mask of controlled detachment as he studied the crude lines drawn across the map. But I knew him well enough to see the tension in his shoulders, the faint tick of his jaw.
“This isn’t just a minor uprising,” Tobias said, his voice tight. He tapped the map with two fingers, his knuckles white. “It’s an organized force. An army.”
I leaned forward, bracing my palms against the table. “Whose ar
