Lantern light traced long golden lines across the white stone as they continued walking.
The statue was no longer visible behind them. Only the quiet geometry of the gardens remained—trimmed hedges, pale pathways, distant marble colonnades reflecting the sacred glow. The Holy Capital at night felt contained, as if even the wind had been instructed to move with restraint.
Noel broke the silence first.
"You know I wouldn't bring this to you without certainty," he said, voice steady. "Elarin cannot be brought into this world. Not like this. Not through what the Circle is attempting."
Orthran walked with his hands folded behind his back, listening.
"Roberto has to be stopped," Noel continued. "There isn't another path that avoids catastrophe. Six months at most. That's the window I'm working with."
Gravel shifted beneath their boots.
