Chapter 222

AURELIA’S POV The summons came in the evening, when the torches along the hallway of Alpha Draven’s packhouse had just been lit, their orange glow throwing shadows that stretched like claws across the walls. A servant delivered the message in a hurried whisper, as though even she feared the clipped tone in which Father had spoken my name. My stomach sank. I knew that tone. It was the same one he used when I was younger and had failed in training, or when I had embarrassed him at some public gathering by being too soft-spoken, too invisible compared to Seraphina. It was the tone that meant there would be no conversation—only commands. The walk to the drawing room felt endless. My slippers barely made a sound on the polished floor, but my heart thudded loud enough that I wondered if the guards outside the door could hear it. I paused for a moment, smoothing my dress, trying to steady my breath. It wouldn’t matter. Father never saw me, not really. He saw only weakness or usefulness. Tonig