"And they will be," Thalynae said, her voice steady as stone. "All of them."
Neither woman moved. The pause that followed wasn't awkward—it was deliberate, a stillness that carried weight.
They stood side by side before the high windows, their eyes tracing the uneven lines of rooftops below, the scattered green of the life trees in the distance.
It was the kind of view that could make a person believe the city might give up its secrets if only they stared hard enough.
But nothing shifted, and the secrets remained. Far beneath them, the hum of the academy went on, unbroken, the rise and fall of voices and footsteps giving no hint that anything had changed.
Yet here in the tower, the air felt heavier, and the path ahead seemed sharper in outline, each choice already taking shape.
When they finally stepped back from the open windows, no words passed between them. They didn't need to speak.
