~Fault Lines~

EIRA

The council chamber did not empty cleanly after the meeting. Groups lingered. Voices stayed low. No one argued openly anymore, which worried me more than shouting ever had. When people stopped fighting in the open, it meant they had started choosing sides in private.

Elrich walked beside me as we left the chamber. His hand brushed my lower back, steady, familiar. It was not a public gesture, but it was not hidden either. Several elders noticed. A few looked away. A few ...