The training yard was already alive when Selene stepped into it.

The clang of steel echoed against the fortress walls, warriors shouting as they sparred. Dust rose with every strike of a blade against a shield. The sharp scent of sweat and iron clung to the air.

Selene tightened the leather straps around her wrists. She had barely slept. Kael’s messenger still haunted her thoughts, the way he had spoken as if she were nothing more than a possession waiting to be reclaimed. The whispers of ...