The entire square went silent.
No one spoke, and no one moved. They all stared at the platform with wide eyes. The words hung over the crowd like lightning that had frozen time itself.
And then… the shock began to spread.
Across the sea of people, faces twisted with disbelief. Some stared blankly at the platform as if they had misheard. Others turned toward their neighbors as they tried to make sense of what they'd just heard.
On the viewing platform, even the most composed Magi were shaken. They stood rigid, their eyes flickering with astonishment as the implications sank in.
The Battle of Ravenfell, the tragedy that had scarred the city for decades, had never been about Adam's betrayal.
It had been about capturing him.
And suddenly, a terrifying thought began to take root in everyone's minds.
If the Cult had attacked Ravenfell to capture Adam… then the man they had cursed as the Deceitful One for forty-five years had never been their enemy at all!
