Aurora's POV
She arrived anyway.
That, more than anything, told me how badly the ground had shifted beneath us.
The observatory sat high above the pack grounds, stone and glass braided together in a way that made the mountain feel closer than the sky. It was a place meant for distance for watching without intervening. I'd always liked it for that reason. Distance can be merciful. It can keep you from mistaking immediacy for necessity.
Beatrice stepped inside quietly, the door sealing behind her with a soft sigh of wards recognizing a presence they had once rejected.
She looked… altered.
Not weaker. Not stronger.
Sharper.
Confinement hadn't broken her. It had distilled her.
"You chose a neutral space," she said, glancing around.
"Yes."
"You didn't want witnesses."
"No."
She studied me then, openly. Not the way people look at authority, measuring, cautious but the way someone looks at an equal they haven't spoken to honestly in far too long.
