Peace rarely settles without resistance.
It had been only three weeks since Dakor’s fall, but already, the ripples of Kaelin’s decree—the Oath of Ash—had begun to fracture ancient lines across the realm. Not everyone approved. Not all Alphas bowed in reverence. And in the dark corners of court and country, rebellion murmured like smoke rising through cracked stone.
Kaelin sat at the high table of the newly rebuilt council chamber, its walls still etched with the scars of the rebellion. The chamber once belonged to Theron’s ancestors, a cold, stoic place. Now it breathed with new life. Banners of silver and charcoal fluttered in the rafters. Scribes lined the walls. Lira stood at her right, Theron at her left. Across from her, the new delegation from the Eastern Clans had arrived.
They w
