Betty's POV.

The meeting had dragged on for what felt like hours. 

Voices rising and falling in a language I only half understood, territorial maps spread across ancient tables, strategies debated with the kind of intensity that made my palms sweat.

When it finally ended, I'd slipped out after Damien, following the steady pull of the bond through corridors that still felt like a maze.

I found them at the castle gate.

Warriors in leather and steel, checking weapons with practised ...