The room didn’t settle after that.
If anything, the weight of what had just been revealed pressed deeper into every corner, making it impossible to pretend this was just a quiet exchange of information. The alliance wasn’t just expanding—it was shifting into something far more controlling, and now that truth sat between all of them.
Lyra didn’t speak immediately. She let the silence stretch just long enough to think clearly, to separate reaction from strategy. When she finally looked up, her focus was steady.
“If those terms move forward,” she said, “this won’t stay internal.”
One of the northern advisers frowned. “What exactly are you implying?”
“That smaller territories won’t accept it quietly,” Lyra replied. “You tighten control like that, you don’t create stability—you create resi
