NYRA POV

The council chamber felt smaller than ever, the shadows closer, crawling up the walls, hungrily leaning in toward me. The distant scent of old incense mixed with cold stone, stifling. The elders were silent, their faces unreadable, but heavy with expectation. And Orren… Orren simply stood in the center like a predator waiting to pounce.

His eyes burned Into me, peaceful, sharp, and analytical, cutting through me with the finesse of a scalpel.

You have always been… a ...