Navarro’s P.O.V.
The laughter of DeL Sol carried farther than they realized.
Even from the highest ridge overlooking the valley, I could hear the celebration.
Music.
Howls.
Wedding bells.
The sound of a kingdom convinced it had won.
I watched the lights flicker below through the branches of the ancient pines.
They celebrated a wedding.
I saw something else.
A beginning.
The blood-red sky had not been an omen.
It had been an announcement.
The prophecy was no longer a prophecy.
It had drawn its first breath.
I turned away from the valley.
The old sugar factory stood hidden deep within the dessert, swallowed by ivy and forgotten by time.
Now…
It belonged to no one.
Which made it perfect.
The heavy doors groaned open.
The hall beyond was lit by hundreds of candles.
Twenty
