The air in the meeting room was thick with anticipation, a low murmur rolling through my trusted circle as we leaned over parchments scattered across the oak table. Plans of battle were drawn and redrawn, each stroke etching our determination into the very fibers of the paper. I straightened my spine, feeling the weight of my title-Luna Queen-pressing down upon me like the moon's own gravity.

"Mother?" Eden's voice, tentative yet clear, broke through the intensity of our war council. My gaze ...