Chapter 56 — The Cost of Choosing Care
Seris did not announce herself.
She didn't need to.
Her influence arrived the way a suggestion did soft, reasonable, and dangerously efficient. It entered conversation as a helpful phrase, a relieved sigh, a shared recommendation passed between tired people who wanted permission to stop hurting.
No banners. No proclamations. No confrontations.
Just language that made withdrawal sound like wisdom.
By the time Elowen first heard the name spoken aloud, the idea had already rooted itself in three districts and was sprouting in a fourth.
"She's practical," Ryn said, reading reports with a scowl that deepened line by line. Papers lay scattered across the council table, marked with circles and urgent notes. "Tells people to prioritize relationships that 'return energy.' To disengage from anything emotionally inefficient."
Elowen's fingers curled slowly against the table's edge. "She's turning care into a transaction."
