NEVA POV
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The compound settled into its new preparation rhythm over the following weeks, but underneath the practical readiness, I felt a question building that nobody had yet said aloud — the specific weight of something too frightening to voice until it became unavoidable.
Corva finally asked it, at a quiet evening gathering, her voice careful in the specific way she reserved for things that mattered enormously.
"If her timeline has accelerated this significantly," she said, "we need to consider whether the same forces that targeted Talia might already be aware of it. Word travels, even among people who claim to have no remaining connection to Vesna's dismantled structure."
The table went quiet.
"You're saying someone might come for Ren specifically," Ryke said. Flat. The specif
