[: 3rd POV :]
On the other hand, Luke and Maiya were still investigating the whereabouts of the slave merchants who had passed by the forest.
At the same time, all of the captains found themselves at a loss.
The grim truth about the Black Pirates weighed heavily on their minds, and none of them could figure out how to present such news to the Empress.
The thought of her reaction alone made their hearts uneasy—her wrath, once roused, was a force of nature, something that could level cities and silence armies.
Yet, in their hearts, they knew they would never blame her for it.
If the Empress did rage, it would be for a reason more than justified.
They gathered in the dimly lit war council chamber, the air thick with tension. No one spoke for a long while.
Maps and reports lay scattered across the grand oak table, but their eyes were fixed on the centre, as though the truth itself might burn a hole through the wood.
