First message
Snow fell like ash over the capital.
Inside the war chamber, the world was all angles—maps stretched taut across oak tables, carved figurines marking armies, thin red threads connecting borders like veins ready to be cut.
Killigan stood at the center of it all.
A gloved hand hovered over the board, then moved one piece—just one. A black-carved wolf sliding into enemy territory.
“Three days,” he said quietly. “If they cross here, they lose their supply line. If they hesitate, we take the pass.”
The generals around him exchanged looks. No one questioned him.
They never did.
A pause. The king leaned forward on his throne-like chair at the head of the table.
“And if you’re wrong?”
Killigan didn’t look up.
“I’m not.”
Silence followed—thick, absolute.
Then a sharp knock cut through the room.
A servant stepped in, bowing low. “My lord counselor… Her Highness requests your presence.”
For the briefest moment—so small it could have been imagined—Killigan’s fingers stilled on the map.
The king frowned. “At this hour?”
Killigan straightened slowly, removing his hand from the board. His expression returned to stone.
“I will attend her.”