The letter arrived on an otherwise unremarkable morning, sealed with the Council's formal wax and carried by an envoy Jasmine didn't recognize — younger than Voss's usual messengers, with the careful, deferential manner of someone new enough to the role to still be nervous about it. He waited at the gates with visible relief once the letter had changed hands, as though grateful his part in this particular errand had concluded without incident.

"The Council requests your presence," the envoy said, "not for judgment or crisis, but for consultation. Word of the alliance's victory against the Hollowing has spread through every territory this Council oversees. Several elders wish to discuss...