Briar entered to find them already assembled. Arion rose immediately, pulling out the chair beside him. The gesture was smooth, practiced, but something in the way his hand lingered on the back of her chair felt proprietary.
"You look lovely," he said, his eyes taking in the gray gown with apparent approval.
She sat, aware of Frederick's cool presence against her neck, hidden beneath her hair. Across the table, Thaine lounged in his chair with the kind of casual sprawl that suggested he knew exactly how much his presence bothered everyone.
"The Star Court's colors suit you," Thaine observed, his tone neutral enough that the insult underneath—the implication of her changeability—was barely detectable. "Though I recall you looked equally at home in Forest Court green."
Arion's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Briar looks well in any court's colors. Or none at all."
The last part hung in the air, carrying more weight than perhaps intended. Sian smoothly redirected, lifting her water goblet.
"The sprite migration went well today, thanks to Briar's help. We managed to relocate them all before the temperature drops tonight."
"All of them?" Halian asked, serving himself from a platter of roasted vegetables that smelled of rosemary and something distinctly fae.
"Every last one," Sian confirmed. "Briar has a natural touch with them."
"She has a natural touch with many things," Thaine said mildly, cutting into his meat with precise movements. "It's what makes her so... valuable."
The word choice wasn't lost on anyone. Arion's light flickered faintly around his fingers before he controlled it.
"Speaking of value," Halian interjected, clearly trying to manage the tension, "we should discuss the ward modifications. With the hunt ending at dawn—"
"The hunt," Thaine interrupted, looking directly at Briar for the first time. "How are you finding your last night of freedom? Assuming you're planning to embrace it."
"That's her choice to make," Arion said, his voice carrying an edge of warning.
"Of course it is." Thaine took a sip of wine. "Though choices are interesting things. Sometimes what we think is a choice is really just selecting between cages."
"Not everyone offers cages," Sian said quietly. "Some offer genuine sanctuary."
Thaine's smile was sharp. "Sanctuary. Such a pretty word for 'staying where you're put.'"
"Better than being hunted," Halian said.
"Is it?" Thaine tilted his head. "At least prey gets to run."
Briar set down her fork, the soft clink loud in the sudden silence. They all looked at her—waiting for her to speak, to choose a side in their verbal chess match. Instead, she reached for her water, taking a slow sip while they watched.
"The wards," she said finally, looking at Halian. "What modifications?"
He blinked at the redirect but adapted. "Strengthening the eastern boundaries. There have been... disturbances. Energy signatures we don't recognize."
"Someone's been testing them," Sian added. "Carefully. Professionally."
"Not my lord," Thaine said before anyone could voice the suspicion. "He has no interest in the Star Court. His focus is entirely on what was taken from him."
The weight of his gaze on Briar made his meaning clear.
"No one took me," Briar said evenly. "I was cast out."
"Temporarily." Thaine's certainty was absolute. "My lord's tempers burn hot but brief. By dawn, this will all be a memory."
"Your lord," Arion said, his hand finding Briar's on the table, covering it with his own, "has no claim here."
The possessive gesture, meant to be protective, made something in Briar's chest tighten with frustration. Everyone kept touching her, claiming her, speaking about her future as if she were a book to be placed on whatever shelf they deemed appropriate.
"The Star Court," Sian was saying, "has ancient laws of sanctuary. Once given, it cannot be revoked."
