Chapter 84

Chapter 84 Seraphina's POV Peace had its own rhythm—slower, quieter, but never truly still. A week after the tribunal, Blackthorne began to settle. Not in complacency, but in careful, hopeful reconstruction. The walls were being repainted. The training fields, once soaked in blood and memories, now echoed with laughter and the clashing of wooden blades. A new generation was already preparing, learning from our mistakes. I stood at the top of the citadel steps, watching the sunrise pour gold over the hills. Everything looked different in daylight. Softer. Safer. But I knew better than to trust peace too easily. Kaelos joined me with two mugs of something steaming and strong. He handed me one without a word, and I took it, grateful for the quiet gesture. "Still can’t sleep?" he asked after a while. "Not well," I admitted. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. For someone to say the war isn’t really over." Kaelos leaned on the railing, his eyes scanning the horizon. "It may never be