ELLIE’S POV
“You’re playing with fire, Jovani.”
The words sliced through the chamber like a blade, sharp and final. I froze at the familiar voice, every nerve in my body going rigid as though the stone walls themselves pressed tighter around me. Elder Lycoris stood at the head of the long council table, her presence as immovable as the mountain we were buried beneath. The torchlight caught in the strands of her silver-streaked hair, turning them into molten threads of steel. Her hands, veined and strong despite her age, were clasped tightly before her, a mask of control that barely contained the tension vibrating from her frame.
Her eyes—cold, piercing, as unforgiving as the heart of winter bored into him with a force that could bend iron. “I’ve warned you before,” she said, each syllab
