The siege did not end the war.
It changed it.
Smoke no longer coils around sanctuary's ridge, and the western forests are no longer lit by hostile flame. Trade routes are slowly reopening under guarded convoy. Children run again near the lake, though they glance over their shoulders more than they used to.
The valley breathes.
But it does not relax.
Because war does not end when swords stop clashing.
It ends when belief shifts.
And Obsidian Wing still believes.
Aurora stands in the council chamber when the white banner arrives.
A Covenant courier kneels in the center of the room, head bowed, holding a sealed scroll stamped with a mark not of Darius's loyalists—nor of Obsidian Wing.
Neutral.
Or claiming to be.
"A proposal," the courier says.
Silence stretches.
Mara takes the scroll but does not open it immediately.
"From whom?" she asks.
The courier swallows.
"From the Obsidian Wing commander."
The room stills.
Kade stiffens slightly beside Aurora.
