Kaelen’s POV —

I stood on the battlement at dawn, winter light silvering the world. Beneath me, the fortress moved—soldiers running drills, servants hauling supplies, mothers corralling children whose eyes were too old for their faces. The watchers in the tower scanned the lines of trees beyond the outer palisade, but I already knew what lived there: not just beasts, but intent.

Aria’s voice haunted the edges of my mind. She had come to me with whispers, a wild and terrified ...