CAGED BY THE LYON
I asked.
He didn't answer right away, just kept staring at the satellite image, a stretch of dense, undeveloped woodland with a single narrow road cutting through it, no structures visible at all from above.
"That's where the duel happened," he said finally, voice barely above a whisper. "Fifteen years ago. That's the exact clearing where the Conclave staged the fight that was supposed to end my bloodline for good."
The room went very still.
"They're bringing her back to the same place," Elara said, understanding dawning across her face, grim and immediate. "That's not a coincidence. That's a message."