midair, casting a cold light across the assembled lords. The murmurs of alliances, threats, and schemes flowed l

re, the almost imperceptible twitch of a finger, the flicker of an eye. She cataloged it all, filing details away for

e saw h

n Val

eel the pull-the thread of fate that had tied them together long before they understood it. It was not a gentle call

every ounce of control she had cultivated over ten years.

e made her muscles tense. The bond flared stronger-like ice cracking under pressure, urgent and raw. She wanted to resist

calm. His voice carried across the noise, reachi

arkened, unflinching. "The connection betw

she shot back, her voice

tly, as though amused by h

ery unspoken word carried weight. She despised how much she wanted to respond, how her body and mind

diated inevitability, other

e Ve

ds with a fluid, deliberate grace. Eyes darted to lords who whispered too closely. A su

ement to memory. The traitor had been clever, pa

s masking sharpened teeth beneath. Marriages were suggested, alliances hinted, and threats disguised as etiqu

everything, unblinking, untiring. The council was a battlefield, but one fo

cil. The bond pulsed anew, like a taut string vibrating under pressure. She felt it as a pu

carrying authority and something softer beneath it.

g calm into her voice. "I am Nightborne.

tered. "Fate does not respect self-reliance

esence. She would not allow this bond to cloud her judgment.

a charm here, a faint glance toward a distant lord there, and the careful positioning of th

n and time revealed cracks in even the strongest facade. Each motion, e

in corners, exchanging promises and threats with words that sounde

every silent competition, every subtle show of dominance. The threa

e watched the room. Concern, curiosity, and the ine

ere," he said quietl

to be," she replied, maskin

the undeniable force that threatened to disrupt her focus. And yet, her determination h

subtle manipulations, and careful positioning revealed enough for Seraphina to recognize the pattern. The

very detail of the council etched into her memory. Her ven

traitor's schemes. Seraphina Nightborne, would strike on her terms. And when