“Yes, princess?”
“Try.”
I reach out and brush my fingers lightly along her cheek. The bond warms instantly.
“I am trying,” I say quietly.
Outside the cottage the shouting grows louder as Ravik’s voice rises again above the others. Fear spreads quickly in villages like this. And tonight it is beginning to gather into something far more dangerous.
I tighten my jaw slightly as I listen to the growing noise.
The situation is escalating. And if it crosses the line from accusation into violence…
The restraint I have fought so hard to maintain may not survive the night.
15
ELOWEN
The knocking begins shortly after sunrise. It is not the hesitant tapping of someone seeking medicine or advice, but a heavy, deliberate pounding that echoes through the small cottage with the unmistakable authority of people who believe they have the right to demand answers.
I was expecting them long before the sky began to pale, leaving only the restless awareness of the bond humming quietly beneath my ribs. Threxian stands near the window when the knocking begins, his attention already fixed on the path leading toward the door.
Through the thin glass I can see them. Villagers. Too many of them.
Lanterns and tools glint faintly in the early morning light as a crowd gathers in the yard outside my cottage. Their expressions carry the tense determination of people who have spent the night feeding each other's fear until it hardens into something that resembles courage. Or something that resembles anger.
Behind me, Threxian’s presence shifts.
“Stay here,” he says quietly.
“That would make things worse.”
His yellow gaze turns toward me.
“Allowing them near you may make things worse.”
“They’re already near me.”
The pounding comes again.
“Elowen Virel!” a voice calls through the door.
I recognize it immediately. Ravik. My stomach tightens. I take a deep breath, steadying myself the way Threxian taught me. The bond responds instantly, settling into a calmer rhythm beneath my sternum. No fear. No terror. Just breath.
I move toward the door before Threxian can object again. If he steps outside beside me, this stops being suspicion and becomes certainty. They will not hear a single word I say after that.
His hand closes briefly around my wrist.
“Elowen.”
The quiet warning in his voice carries more weight than any raised tone.
“They are angry.”
“I know.”
“They are afraid.”
