POV: ELARA
I moved without thinking.
One moment I was standing beside Kael, watching the mob surge toward Morgana. The next, I was between them, my body a barrier, scales rippling across my skin in partial transformation.
"Stop!" The command tore from my throat, and with it came power.
My tamer ability—amplified by being Reborn—flooded outward in a wave. Not controlling them, not stealing their will, but compelling attention. Making them hear me in a way they couldn't ignore.
The crowd froze mid-step, held not by force but by the sheer weight of my presence.
"Yes, she's done terrible things," I said, my voice carrying across the square. "Yes, she's killed. She's murdered on orders from the very conspiracy that destroyed both our kingdoms."
Morgana stood behind me, silent, not even trying to defend herself.
"But so have many of you," I continued. "So have I. War makes killers of us all. The only question is whether we choose to keep killing or choose to stop."
