[Outside the Council Chamber]
The doors closed behind them with a dull, heavy sound, sealing away the rising voices of the council.
The corridor outside was quiet, the dim lighting stretching long shadows across the stone floor as Seraphina walked beside Aldric with her thoughts still tangled in everything that had just unfolded.
"You didn't have to do that," she said after a while, her tone calm but edged with lingering tension.
Aldric adjusted the cuff of his sleeve as he walked, his expression composed and almost indifferent. "They needed to be reminded," he replied. "Wolves have a tendency to forget where their authority ends when no one corrects them."
Seraphina let out a quiet breath. "They won't trouble us again after this."
"For a time," Aldric said and there was something in his voice that made her glance at him more closely.
"They will start asking questions," she continued. "They already suspect something, even if they don't understand it yet."
