Word of Versa's sacrifice spread through the ark within the hour, and with it came a wave of grief that many aboard seemed able to shake. Sadness, anger, and a deep, aching despair settled over the entire vessel.
She had been part of their lives for two decades—protecting them, healing them, and standing as their quiet anchor through the worst of their years in hiding.
Bragnir took it hardest. He blamed himself openly, voice raw with fury he clearly meant to turn inward, furious he'd never noticed her condition in all the years she'd lived beneath his own roof. It was only the two elven holy knights stepping in with a full account of what she'd done — and why — that kept the moment from curdling into something worse. Without their explanation, Emery standing there holding one of the elves' most sacred relics might easily have looked like something else entirely.
Still, grief was a luxury none of them could afford for long.
The storm was already on them.
