Chapter 19 – Ashes in the Wind
Chapter 19 – Ashes in the Wind
Dawn seeped slowly over Valaris — not gold, but smoke, curling through the city's ribs like memory rising from a battlefield. The kind that clung to every stone and seam, heavy as breath withheld — soft, lingering, unclaimed. It filtered through the spires and over the marble domes, touching even the war banners with a haze that blurred symbol into shadow.
At the edge of the eastern quarter, the War Spire loomed — a relic of older blood and quieter wars. Blackstone and steel, untouched by time, it rose like a broken fang above the courtly architecture below. Few entered. Fewer left.
Lady Morveth stood beneath the open arch of its highest terrace, cloak drawn tight against the morning wind. Below her, the city murmured to life — distant bells, market carts, footsteps echoing in wet stone alleys. But here, in the spire, there was only silence.
Behind her, a raven settled on the balustrade.
Then the footsteps came.
Measured. Leather. Not armored.
A courier approached through the mist, hood soaked and head bowed. He did not speak until Morveth turned — a slow motion, like mist parting around something older than air.
"Well?" she asked.
The man swallowed once.
"He did not return."