Mira’s POV

The fortress was quiet when I returned. Reports lined the table, but I read none of them. The mark on the border tree stayed in my mind, carved deep enough to reach through thought. I pretended to be calm, even when the guards whispered Kael’s name outside my door. The silence I allowed was my weapon.

Cyrus entered without request. “You knew,” he said. I didn’t deny it. He waited for a reaction I didn’t give. The air between us held more weight than his words.

“You ...