“As for bombings,” he went on, “we scatter decoys. Mana illusions, thick around barracks and munitions. The real targets will be relocated. Silent and fortified.”
“And Auryn?” Zarrek asked, eyes narrowing. “Where is she during all this?”
“She stays close,” Kailorien replied without hesitation. “Hidden, if necessary. But not idle.”
As if on cue, Auryn stirred in his arms. One hand shifted against his chest, fingers curling into his tunic. Her breathing stayed soft. Peaceful.
Kailorien’s voice gentled again.
“She needs rest. But when she wakes…she’ll help with the weavings. No one else can match her insight.” He glanced at the sky web diagram again, pointing. “She helped me with this.”
“Moonbeam’s a natural with magic,” Thessia smiled.
Kailorien rose, arms tightening around Auryn’s sleeping form.
“I’ll take her back.”
No one protested.
He crossed the chamber with the soundless grace of a predator long trained to move in armor, vanishing behind the curtain. A moment passed. The whisper of blankets. The faint rustle of robes drawn closed.
Then he returned.
“Begin ward mapping at first light,” he said. “We’ll walk the perimeter together. Until then, you’re dismissed.”
He turned as they gathered their scrolls and weapons, but before they could reach the door, his voice stopped them one last time.
“If this goes badly…if they breach the inner keep, or if a rift opens at full surge—” His jaw clenched. “We fall back into the Veinroads.”
Thessia arched a brow. “You meanthroughthe mountain?”
“I meanunderit, through the Oathgate,” he clarified. “I had the tunnels scouted during the last repairs. They’re unstable but passable. Lead all survivors there. Seal the exit behind you if necessary.”
“And you?” Talia asked.
Kailorien didn’t answer.
After a long silence, Zarrek said, “He’ll hold the line.”
Kailorien’s gaze flicked to him. A small nod passed between them. Not peace. Not quite. But purpose.
The chamber emptied. One by one, boots faded down the corridor. The war room felt cavernous now, emptied of voices and tension. Only the low flicker of rune-light remained, casting soft shadows across stone and steel. Kailorien lingered by the table, watching the stillness behind the partition. He hadn’t realized how loud the silence had become until he stepped away from the world and returned to her.
Auryn was curled beneath the blankets but not sleeping.
Not truly.
She turned her head as he approached. Her hair was a silver tangle across the pillow, and her eyes—half-lidded, glassy with fatigue—found his with something warm. Fragile.
“I missed your weight beside me,” she whispered.
He sat beside her on the bed, leaning forward to press a kiss to her temple. “I was too long away.”
She made a sound of protest and tugged at the blanket, inviting him in. He slid inside, letting his arm sweep beneath her shoulders as she nestled close. Her limbs folded into his like they belonged there.
“I thought of something awful,” she said, her fingers resting just over his chest. “While I dreamed.”
His hand stilled on her back. “Tell me.”
