Brook returned nearly fifteen minutes later, moving with an urgent pace. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he found Nara no longer seated but walking in short lines beneath the tree, lost in thought. Brook crossed the distance between them without hesitation and caught him by the shoulders.
"It's him," he said, his voice low but charged. "There's no doubt. He's Lord Maelor's grandson. And more than that, he awakened a high-grade core."
Nara did not pull away, but his expression hardened. "You're certain?"
"As certain as I can be without seeing the core myself. The description matches. The timing matches. The disappearance matches." Brook's grip tightened slightly. "You need to keep him close. Do you understand?"
"Brook," Nara replied carefully, "he isn't someone you simply keep."
