"When the world teeters on collapse, sometimes survival is not forged in power, but in the quiet laughter that follows it."
KAEL'S POV
The Royal Chambers were finally sealed and silent, bathed in the soft, regulated glow of the Omega Mage wards. Elias was resting, tethered securely to Alaric's Law, and the Crownspice Anchor was stable. The initial, heart-stopping crisis was over, and the secondary, equally exhausting crisis, the management of the high command was now in full swing. I stood in the smaller, designated waiting room adjacent to the chambers, pouring a ridiculously strong cup of medicinal herbal tea. My hands were steady now, but the internal tremor of the past forty-eight hours still lingered. I had just saved the Anchor from a magical core collapse after the most powerful Alpha duel in history. I deserved this tea.
