The council chamber was suffocating. The air was thick with incense smoke and whispers, the weight of a hundred judging eyes pressing down on her like stones. Selene sat stiffly beside Darius at the head of the long stone table, her palms sweating against the polished surface though she tried to hide it.

She thought she had proven herself. She had fought rogues, saved lives, bled alongside Shadowfang warriors. And yet the murmurs of doubt still followed her like ghosts in every hall. ...