They returned to the Hollow Fortune to find it surrounded by another ship — sleeker, armored, and flying the black-and-gold sigil of the Rune Sovereignty.
Sera's crew was lined up on the deck, hands bound. A tall figure in rune-etched armor stepped forward, helm under one arm.
It was Captain Maeron — the same Sovereignty officer Kaelen had escaped from in Duskport.
"Step away from the cartographer, Kaelen," Maeron said, his voice like stone. "She's coming with us."
Sera spat on the ash. "Over my dead—"
She didn't finish. Maeron raised a hand, and the runes on his gauntlet flared, hurling her backward with an invisible force.
Kaelen lunged, but two Sovereignty soldiers caught him, wrenching his arms behind his back.
Maeron's gaze dropped to Kaelen's marked hand. "That rune doesn't belong to you. We're taking you to the Heart — where it will be unmade."