Elara’s POVI stood before the mirror longer than necessary, fingers threaded into my hair as though if I held it still enough, it might stop changing, but it didn’t.Silver still dominated, pale and luminous, but black threaded through it now in quiet defiance, thicker than before, darker, almost glossy, as if shadow itself had decided to take root. It wasn’t random. It followed patterns, streaking from my scalp down in deliberate lines, weaving into the silver instead of fighting it.I swallowed. Behind me, Anna’s voice drifted through the chamber, steady but tight around the edges.“The council is divided,” she said. “Some think your absence from meetings is… strategic. Others think it's a weakness.”I exhaled slowly, still staring at my reflection. “And what do you think?”She hesitated. I saw it in the mirror, the way her shoulders shifted, the way her hands clasped together.“I think they’re afraid,” she said finally. “Of you. Of what you represent. Of what they don’t understand
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