The letter reached Kaelis at dusk. General Raven handed it to him without a word, and that alone was enough to make the air shift.
Raven was not a man easily shaken. He had stood in battlefields painted red, had watched kingdoms rise and fall, had buried men he once called brothers without allowing grief to touch his face.
But now, standing in the cold stone halls of Kharzun Vale, there was something careful in the way he held that folded paper. Careful meant dangerous. Kaelis took it.
Charles leaned lazily against the pillar nearby, though the sharpness in his eyes betrayed him.
Cyrene stood by the window with Venom at her feet like she had personally stolen the dog from God, while Cassian remained seated, silent and watching.
Kaelis unfolded the letter. His eyes moved once. Only once. And that was enough. His expression did not change.
And that was worse.
Charles straightened. Raven said nothing. The silence stretched long enough to become its own warning.
