In Nyvoria, the palace felt smaller than usual.
Lunara was summoned just after dusk. The corridors were empty as she walked them, guards standing farther apart than before. Even the torches burned low, as if the walls themselves were listening.
Inside the council chamber, King Eldrion waited with only a few others present.
"You stopped a disaster," he said without preamble.
Lunara bowed. "I tried."
"You also stood between Nyvoria and civil fracture," he continued. "That matters."
Relief flickered in her chest—but it didn't last.
"There are consequences," the king said. "Not for crossing the border. For what followed."
He gestured to a document on the table.
"The engagement will be announced," he said. "Soon."
Lunara's jaw tightened. "My service"
"Is precisely why this must happen," the king replied. "The people trust you. The army listens to you. A union with the crown will steady them."
"And if I refuse?"
The king's voice softened, just slightly. "Then others will decide for you. And they will not be as careful."
Lunara understood the truth beneath the words.
This was not punishment.
It was containment.
She bowed again, deeper this time. "I understand."
When she left the chamber, the air felt heavier than armor. She paused in the corridor, pressing her palm briefly to the stone wall to steady herself.
Outside, the moon was hidden.
In Aethros, King Varyon did not bother with councils.
He sat alone in the war chamber, staring at the map where the border had finally broken. Rhaegor's mark burned bright across several positions.
"Good," Varyon said.
A servant approached carefully. "Prince Kael requests audience."
The king did not turn. "He already had his."
"But he insists."
Varyon finally faced the door. "Send him in."
Kael entered and knelt, as tradition demanded.
"You spared the enemy again," Varyon said.
"I prevented chaos."
"Chaos serves conquest," the king replied. "You think too much."
Kael lifted his head. "Nyvoria is changing. They won't remain passive."
"That is why we press harder," Varyon said. "Rhaegor understands this."
Kael felt the shift clearly now.
"You are relieved of border command," the king continued. "You will move inland. Train. Wait."
Wait.
A polite word for removal.
Kael bowed once more. "As you command."
When he left the chamber, the weight of the decision followed him like a shadow.
He had not been punished.
He had been sidelined.
And in Aethros, sidelined princes did not remain alive for long.
That night, as Lunara stood alone on Nyvoria's wall and Kael packed his armor away from the border, both felt the same thing settle in their chests.
Time was running out.
Not because of war.
But because choices were being made without them.