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THIRD PERSON POV"Lady Seraphina... " Rowan said. "Would you like to explain what the elders are talking about?"She started stuttering. "It's... it... I... " they she paused and took a deep breath.Rowan did not rush her. Instead, he waited patiently, giving her the respect of a woman who was once his and Donald's friend. "I didn't do it intentionally," she said. "I only came across the news and thought to share it with the elders."Rowan sighed. "I'm asking one thing. You're saying another thing. Do you need water? Do you need time to gather yourself? Do you want to catch a breath?""I'm fine," she replied. "If you are, then reply to the question I asked.""The elders said you were the one who let the disgraced elders into the council chamber. Why is that?""I wanted them to talk to the elders on my behalf. Since you and the Alpha were not around. I figured it would be better to bring someone whom the elders respected.""And you could not wait for myself or the Alpha to return? Is

THIRD PERSON POVThe council chamber was quieter now, and it wasn't the kind of quiet that meant peace. It was the kind that meant everyone in the room had finally understood what was coming, and not one of them had the courage to speak against it.Rowan sat with his hands folded, his eyes on the door.He was waiting for Kali.The elders sat stiffly in their seats, robes that had once swept into that chamber with dignity now feeling like burial clothes. Some of them stared at the floor. Some stared at their hands. One or two of the lesser elders had their lips moving in what looked like silent prayer.Seraphina sat in the chair that had been brought forward and placed directly before Rowan. Closer than anyone else. Close enough that she could not look away, could not pretend she was not the center of everything happening in this room.She did not cry. She had decided she would not cry. Crying would be an admission, and she was not ready to admit anything more than what had already bee

THIRD PERSON POVThe hour moved slowly.It was beginning to make the minds of all those who were seated there, do things they shouldn't.Damon had been sitting in that chair for so long that his legs had started to go numb. He shifted quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself. His eyes moved around the room the way they had been doing since he sat down — not obviously, not in a way that looked like he was planning something. Just small, careful looks.The guard to his left had moved.Not far. Just a few steps to the side to speak quietly to another guard near the wall.Damon looked at the gap.He looked at the door.It was locked. He knew that. But there was a side door near the back of the chamber, half hidden behind one of the large pillars. He had seen it when they brought him in. He had been looking at it ever since.His heart started beating faster.He told himself not to do it.He told himself to sit still, to stay calm, to wait, and see what happened.But Damon had never

THIRD PERSON POVThe chamber was so quiet that one could hear the torches on the wall breathing.Donald sat forward in his seat and looked at the room one more time. "Let's start with the elders," he said.Every elder in the room straightened."Every elder who sat in this chamber and watched the Queen be judged and banished without my seal, you are hereby removed from your positions, effective from this moment." His voice did not rise. It didn't need to. "Your robes, your titles, your seats in this council, none of it belongs to you anymore. You will be escorted out of this chamber today, and you will not return to it until I have appointed new elders to replace you. That process will begin in the coming days."Some of the elders closed their eyes.One of the lesser elders, the one who had been bold enough to speak the truth during Rowan's questioning, shifted in his seat.Donald noticed."The elder who spoke honestly today," Donald said, "will remain. His seat is not touched. Coura

THIRD PERSON POVDonald did not sleep well the second night.He lay still, so Rebecca wouldn't know. He kept his breathing even and his body relaxed, his arm behind his back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above him. But behind the stillness, his mind was moving fast, the way it always moved when something he had spent years pressing down was pushing back up to the surface.Rowan had pulled him aside that afternoon, after the chamber had fully emptied and the last of the guards had filed out, and had said quietly — with specific carefulness."There's something else. Something I found while you were away. It's about your parents."Donald had looked at him for a long moment."Tomorrow," he had said.Rowan nodded and said nothing more.That had been hours ago. Now the house was sunk deep in the quiet of the night and everyone else in it was asleep and Donald was still on his back staring at the ceiling and the memory he had spent six years learning to live alongside was moving through hi