“She cannot be serious!”
“That girl has no sense of—”
“Winter’s End is not a battlefield!”
Rowan slammed his hand on the table. “Enough.”
But Thane’s voice sliced over him. “She is unstable. Traumatized. We cannot allow her into a public space.”
Mingxi stepped forward, lifting his tails in a quiet, unmistakable threat. “You mistake clarity for instability.”
A few Councilors flinched.
“She survived her awakening,” Mingxi said, tone soft but lethal. “She faced revenants twice. She has demonstrated more discipline than any of you in this chamber.”
Seraphine exhaled slowly. “Even so. The risks—”
“Therisk,” Mingxi said evenly, “is losing the only lead we have.”
That stilled the room.
“She is the only target the creature has shown interest in. The only one it pursued. The only one who walked away.” He swept the Council with a cold, measured gaze. “You have no one else. You have nothing else.”
The truth landed like a stone dropped into deep water.
Rowan swallowed. “If she is our lead, we cannot deny her request.”
“We can’t protect her in a ballroom,” Thane muttered.
“That,” Mingxi said, “is why we will prepare it.”
No one argued again.
After a long moment, Rowan nodded. “Very well. Begin arranging the perimeter. We will reconvene when the plan is drafted.”
Mingxi bowed—precise, formal. “I already have a design.”
The Preparation Hall was a cathedral of sigils and glowing ward-maps. Mingxi stood before the rotating projection of the Grand Winter Hall.
“She must be visible,” he said. “Visible targets are predictable targets.”
Guardians murmured agreement.
“She enters on the mezzanine. Guardians here, here, and here,” he indicated. “Glamoured, armed, unobserved.”
Rowan frowned. “And the risk?”
“High,” Mingxi said. “But manageable.”
They deployed a containment web—subtle, invisible, undetectable.
“Do you expect an attack?” Seraphine asked.
“I expect one, yes,” Mingxi replied. “Intent always precedes action.”
The final sigils dimmed, locking into their predetermined rotations. The Guardians dispersed in pairs, voices low as they moved to their assignments. Only when the last of them exited did Mingxi release the faint stretch of magic coiled beneath his skin.
The plan had been locked into place. The danger was inevitable, and the target was waiting.
