Elara's POV
The war room was empty now.
Corvus had left first, taking his lists and his plans and his careful, measured voice. The other advisors had followed, one by one, until it was just me and the maps and the candles burning low in their holders. The room felt different without them. Bigger. Emptier. The kind of quiet that presses against your ears and makes every sound seem too loud.
I sat at the table for a long time after the door closed behind the last of them.
The maps were still spread out in front of me. Grain distribution points. Volunteer routes. Guard positions marked in Corvus's neat hand. All of it important. All of it waiting for decisions I couldn't seem to make right now.
My hand moved to my stomach without my permission. It was comfortable. It was familiar. It let me keep the truth at arm's length, let me pretend that if I didn't say it out loud, it didn't have to be real.
But I said it out loud yesterday To Lena.
