Riverbend's morning sunlight should have felt warm. Instead it landed on my skin like chilled metal.
I locked the café and stepped into the street with Elior and Adrian flanking me in uneasy silence. People bustled past—commuters with paper cups, a couple arguing over a parking meter—oblivious to the strange current humming beneath the city. Somewhere inside that current waited the Concord's envoy.
Adrian tilted his head, golden eyes narrowing. "They're masking well," he murmured.
Elior scanned the rooftops, green light flickering at his fingertips. "Not well enough."
The silver feather in my pocket pulsed once, sharp and hot, and the world tilted. The chatter of pedestrians thinned, as if a wall of glass had lowered between me and everyone else. My breath caught.
"They're here," I whispered.
A woman stepped from the crowd as though she'd always been walking beside us. Tall, hair the color of frost, her eyes mirrored the sky—literally mirrored, twin pools of reflective silver that showed me my own startled face.
"Lila," she said, voice smooth as water over stone. "I am Astrae, emissary of the Concord."
Elior moved instinctively, a subtle shield of green light blooming between us. Astrae's gaze flicked to him, impassive.
"Still the faithful arrow," she said. "Step aside."
Adrian gave a low laugh. "And here comes the leash."
Her eyes found his. "Fallen Vale. Your presence here is unauthorized."
"Everything about me is unauthorized," Adrian replied lightly, but I felt the tension sharpen in the air.
Astrae's focus returned to me. "Child of the Feather," she said, and the title vibrated through me like a struck bell. "The Concord offers sanctuary. Protection. Power to match your birthright. Accept the binding and the chaos ends."
Binding. The word sank like a stone.
"What does it cost?" I asked.
"Nothing you will miss," she said, too quickly.
Adrian stepped closer, his voice a golden lure. "Tell her the truth, envoy. Binding means surrender. They'll wrap her heart in chains and call it harmony."
Astrae's mirrored eyes narrowed. "Freedom without order is ruin."
"Order without freedom is death," Adrian shot back.
The feather's pulse accelerated, matching the pounding in my chest. "Stop," I said, louder than I meant. "You're both talking like I'm a prize to be claimed."
"You are a balance to be kept," Astrae corrected.
"You are a person," Adrian countered.
I shook my head. "I am me."
The street seemed to fade, colors sharpening until only silver, green, and gold remained—three forces pulling at the edges of my vision. Somewhere deep, something inside me stirred, vast and bright.
Astrae reached out a hand. "Choose sanctuary. You will be safe. Loved."
Elior's voice broke, low and rough. "Lila… you owe no vow."
Adrian's golden light flickered warmer. "Walk away. With me, you can be free."
My heart thudded, each beat a choice. Safety. Freedom. Or something neither could name.
The feather blazed sudden white, and a surge of energy rushed outward. The pavement cracked beneath our feet with a sharp, ringing snap. Astrae staggered back, genuine surprise breaking her calm.
"You awaken," she breathed.
Wind whipped around us, scattering leaves like sparks. The mirrored eyes dimmed slightly, and for the first time I saw a flicker of uncertainty in her perfect face.
"This isn't over," she said, and the air folded around her. One blink and she was gone—vanished like a reflection in broken glass.
The street noise returned in a rush: car horns, a barking dog, the smell of roasting beans from the café down the block. Ordinary, fragile life.
Adrian let out a slow, appreciative whistle. "Well," he said, "you certainly know how to make an entrance."
Elior turned to me, green light fading but his expression fierce. "She'll be back with others. The Concord won't retreat."
My palms tingled with leftover power, the feather warm against my skin. "Then let them come," I said, surprised at my own steady voice. "I'm done running from choices that belong to me."
Adrian smiled—half admiration, half something darker. Elior simply looked at me as though the whole sky had shifted.
And somewhere above the city, I felt it again: the vast, waiting silence of the Concord… listening.