When the seal cracked, the sound wasn’t loud.
It was deep.
Like something shifting beneath the skin of the world. A pop, a grind, a pulse—and then silence. Not the silence of peace. The silence that comes just before a storm, when even the birds know not to speak.
Sariah stood motionless at the edge of the ward. The shimmer of the protective veil faltered behind her like glass holding its last breath. Her hand still rested against Dain’s, pressed over her heart. The glow from the bond had dimmed, not from fading, but from concentrating. Drawing inward. Preparing.
She spoke without looking at either of them. “When they come, they’ll test the Vein first. Not our strength. Our will.”
Dain swallowed. “How do they test that?”
“They make you choose what you love,” she said. “And they threaten to break it.”
Thalen shifted behind her. “They’ll bring faces from the past. Words wrapped in half-truths. Just like they did to me.”
Sariah’s voice sharpened. “You broke under it once.”
“Yes.” Thalen
