The mountain had fallen.
Smoke still drifted from the shattered peak, curling through the alpine air like the last breath of a slain beast. Fire had turned to embers. Stone to dust. And in the midst of the ruins, Ariella stood unbroken.
They had tried to crown her.
They had tried to take her child.
They had tried to twist her into something she was never meant to be.
But she had chosen love.
Chosen Eleanor.
And now, all that remained of the Order's heart was a hollowed crater where once an empire had hoped to rise again.
They camped that night at the base of the mountain. The jet couldn't land anywhere nearby, and the terrain was too unstable to risk travel in darkness. Carter and Vincent secured a perimeter while Leo set up a makeshift tent and small fire.
Ariella sat against a pine tree, Eleanor curled tightly into her lap beneath a thick blanket. The child had finally fallen asleep, her tiny fist clutching Ariella's cloak as if she feared she might vanish again.
