***Cadiz***
The warning came just after dawn.
"Riders approaching from the west," the scout reported, breathless from running. "Large force, maybe six thousand, they're flying Draven banners."
I was in the training yard with Lyris and Carl, working through another exercise in controlled nullification. At the scout's words, all three of us stopped mid-practice.
"The Dravens," Lyris said, lowering her hands as the magic she'd been draining settled back into dormancy. "Duke Magnus said they'd be coming."
"I know," I said, though my stomach had twisted into knots, the Dravens meant Aldrik, which meant Cassius.
I hadn't seen my twin brother since the council meeting months ago, back when I'd still been trying to understand my place in this world. Back when I'd thought I was nothing more than a failed omega that everyone pitied.
Everything had changed since then.
