The chair screeched across the floor as I rose. Air, I needed air.
“Sit,”Callum commanded.“This meeting is not over. You are not dismissed.”
The words pinned me in place, hands shaking against the chair’s spine. Equal, yet addressed as less.
Anger curdled with a colder pulse—
Until comfort was offered against my knuckles.
Ford. His hazel eyes lifted to mine, saying what no words could:I see you. I see him. You’re not alone in this.
My lips moved into a thankful smile, my hand finding the top of his. And still, I couldn’t stomach it.
Not Callum’s strike across my cheek, but Ronan. That he would be there.
“My guess,” Callum said, voice roughened by restraint, “is Obrann wants assurance the dragons aren’t circling his throne. Or that there are no lingering debts, no unsettled scores.”
Thread frayed against his nail as he dragged a thumb, tracing it across the lion stitched into his coat. The emblem now looking more fragile than fierce.
“I will meet with the king tomorrow about Ryuu. I’ll press for more.” He slid the map across to Duke, the parchment catching the light as the candle guttered beside the window.
Time pressed thin. Shadows tapering toward dawn.
Callum’s jaw worked once before he forced the rest out. “If Ronan has sense, he won’t make a deal with Obrann. Not when he knows what we hold.”
The chamomile tasted stale now, bitter on my tongue, as I drained the last of my tea.
“Not unless I stab him first,” I muttered into the rim.
Callum’s eyes flicked up, warning layered over sympathy. I knew he could read the grief braided under my mask.
A gentle brush against my shields, regret pressing soft against my mind.I’m sorry, Verena.
My chest clenched. This wasn’t only about me. Not entirely.
He’d watched the woman he loved be shackled, manipulated, paraded. Forced to shine for a crown that dimmed her until there was nothing left but hollow light.
And now, marriage to one of Selvarra’s vilest sons.
I would lash out too. I would shatter the world, burn it to nothing. I’ll do worse, actually.
I forgive you, always.
The bond eased, its strain unraveling as relief bled through.
Callum reached across the table, his hand closing over mine. The pressure loosened something in my ribs.
Then his voice turned steel. “If the dragons betray us, Verena,”the look in his eyes was unnerving when they caught mine, “Ronan is yours.”
I smiled. A slow, gleaming thing. It was all I’d wanted, all I’d dreamed, for two days. Or what felt like a lifetime.
Duke spread a new map across the table, parchment cracked at the edges, its surface creased with travel.
Callum wasted no words.“Five of you leave tomorrow night. It’s a day’s ride to Sunhaven’s territory.”His finger drew a path along the map.“You’ll arrive just as Obrann's men depart. Find what they asked, what they sought, what they left behind. Trade supplies for answers if you must. Remind them that unity is still possible.”
Duke’s nod was crisp, already folding the corner of the map as he rose.
“Stick to the dusk—”Callum continued.“Then return. Avoid soldiers. Don’t engage unless you must. They don’t know you wear Csolenia’s mark. This is not a strike; it’s a shadow’s work. Track and return.” He stood, the weight of his motion lifting the rest of us in turn.“If you receive a letter by dawn, you’re on the mission. If not, training tomorrow. Rook leads.”
