Malrik POV

We reviewed the last pieces of our plan for the council, and that was when I learned Drethos had insisted on accompanying us despite his body not being fully healed.

I understood.

He needed to be there.

Not only as a witness, but as a man desperate to set things right. His presence wasn’t optional. It was necessary for justice, for closure, perhaps even for his redemption.

Zenovia’s fate was clearer than his. She was out of danger physically, but her road forward led her ...