The poisoned dart changes everything.
Not because it kills.
It doesn't.
Mara lives.
Barely grazed, shaken but unbroken.
But the attempt shifts perception in a way no siege ever could.
Sanctuary wolves whisper that Obsidian inclusion has already borne blood.
Covenant loyalists grow colder toward Kael's delegation.
Human representatives begin drafting contingency clauses for immediate expulsion.
And Obsidian radicals
They see weakness.
Aurora feels the tremor beneath the web immediately.
Not rupture.
Alignment stress.
The structure is holding.
But pressure is increasing from every direction.
And this time
It is not only sanctuary that must decide.
Kael must choose.
The council convenes at dawn under armed watch.
No one sits comfortably.
Mara's shoulder is bandaged, her expression steady despite fatigue.
"You are here under provisional trust," she says to Kael evenly.
"Yes."
"And that trust has been violated."
"Yes."
Silence stretches.
