MasukElowen:"I'm going to look in on Aria and Corin," Zarek said, pulling on his boots that afternoon, Kellan babbling contentedly on the floor nearby. "See how they're settling.""Give them my love," I said, not looking up from the shirt I was mending. "Tell Aria I'll visit properly once the council business settles."He paused at the door, something careful in his expression. "You're certain you don't mind me going alone?"I set the mending down, meeting his eyes directly. "I trust you," I said simply. "Going alone isn't the same as hiding something. I'd only worry if you felt you needed to keep it from me."Something relieved moved across his face. "Thank you," he said quietly, "for trusting me enough to just ask plainly, rather than making either of us tiptoe around it."He kissed my temple and left, and I returned to my mending, something steady and unbothered settling in my chest. We had built this, honesty instead of secrecy, choosing it deliberately, over and over, until it had f
Elowen:The door finally opened, and the healer stepped out, exhaustion written plainly across her face, though something warm and satisfied shone through it too."Mother and son are both well," she said, and the hallway erupted into motion at once, Marlen surging forward before she'd even finished speaking."Can I see her?" he asked, breathless."Gently," the healer warned, though she was already stepping aside to let him pass. "She's weary, but strong."I watched him disappear through the doorway, my own chest tight with relief, and turned to find Thornwood still rooted to his chair, unmoving."Go to her," I said softly."I don't know if I'm welcome yet," he admitted, his voice thin. "She asked for privacy. Perhaps she still wants it, even now.""Then let her tell you herself," I said. "Standing out here guessing won't answer that question for you."He rose slowly, steadying himself against the wall, and crossed toward the door with the careful, hesitant steps of a man approaching s
Elowen:The sound of steel outside hadn't stopped, and neither had Aria's labor, both of them tangled together now in a single, relentless wall of noise I couldn't separate no matter how hard I tried."She's not progressing the way she should be," the healer admitted quietly, pulling me aside for a moment while Aria caught her breath between contractions, sweat-soaked and trembling. "The baby's turned. We may need to try turning it properly, or this could go on for hours yet.""Hours," I repeated, dread settling cold and heavy in my chest. "Can she survive hours of this, with everything else happening outside?""She has to," the healer said simply, already turning back toward the bed. "There's no other option left for us now."I crossed back to Aria's side, gripping her hand as another contraction seized her entire body, a scream tearing loose that didn't sound human anymore, just raw, desperate pain given voice."I can't," she sobbed, her whole body shaking. "Elowen, I can't do this.
Elowen :Marlen burst into the study just past midday, his face pale, breathless from running."I followed Thessaly," he said, barely able to force the words out fast enough. "He met with someone near the eastern border. A man I didn't recognize, but the crest on his cloak, the wolf's head circled by thorns.""Blackridge," Ronan said grimly, setting down the papers he'd been reviewing."I couldn't get close enough to hear everything," Marlen continued, still catching his breath. "But I caught enough. They're not simply planning to influence the vote anymore. They intend to strike during it, when the council and half this pack's leadership will be gathered in one place, distracted, vulnerable."The room went cold."Strike how?" Selene demanded, her composure visibly fraying at the edges."I don't know exactly," Marlen admitted. "But Thessaly mentioned something about ensuring the chamber stays unguarded during the proceedings. I think they mean to force their way in. During the vote it
Elowen:Marlen threw himself into the investigation with a focus that bordered on relentless, spending long hours in Ronan's study poring over guard rosters, trade records, anything that might reveal how Blackridge's influence had reached so deep into council politics without anyone noticing sooner.I brought him tea one evening, finding him hunched over a spread of documents, candles burned low around him."You should rest," I said gently, setting the cup beside him."I can't," he admitted, not looking up. "Every hour I'm not working feels like an hour Blackridge gets to move further ahead of us.""Exhaustion won't help Aria," I said carefully, "or the child, if you collapse from working yourself past reason."Marlen finally looked up, something weary and grateful crossing his face. "You're right," he said. "I simply don't know how to sit still, knowing what's at stake.""Then let me help," I said, settling across from him. "Another pair of eyes might catch something yours have grown
Elowen:The carriage arrived well past dark, no messenger sent ahead to warn us, and I felt real alarm the moment I saw it, no crest visible, the horses lathered and exhausted, as though they'd been driven hard for hours without resting.Aria stumbled from it before it had fully stopped, Marlen catching her, both of them travel-worn and hollow-eyed, a single battered trunk strapped awkwardly behind them, the whole of what they'd clearly managed to carry."Aria?" I rushed toward her, Zarek close behind me.Ronan and Selene arrived moments later, drawn by the commotion, both stopping short at the sight before them, genuine surprise crossing their faces."Aria?" Selene said, startled, her eyes moving quickly over the state of them, the exhausted horses, the single trunk, Marlen's grim expression. "What is this? Why are you here, at this hour, with no word sent ahead at all?""Forgive the intrusion," Marlen said, his voice rough with exhaustion. "We had no way of sending word. We left in







