Krail's face went the color of old paper.
"You—" His mouth worked around the words like they didn't fit. "You were never captured."
"No." Solenne's voice had gone flat with fury. "This was a setup. Someone fed the Council false intelligence, and you marched an army through their gates because of it."
Outside, the sound of it kept building. Steel and screaming and magic detonating somewhere close enough to shake dust loose from what remained of the ceiling. Elves fighting humans who thought they were rescuing a princess. Elves fighting because armed strangers had breached their walls wearing the crest of an empire that had just been granted an audience with their King.
Nobody left standing in that fight had the full picture. Nobody was going to stop long enough to get it.
"We have to move." Solenne was already pulling Arthur upright by his good arm. "Thalon, get Theodore. Cael, help Vexis. I'll clear a path."
