POV: Ayla

The request for a formal response arrives before noon. Not a private message. A notice circulated to the same regional observers who watched the envoy leave the gathering two days ago. The organization wants the answer on record. They want to know whether the White Luna will trade knowledge for quiet, and they want witnesses to the choice.

We could have answered in a closed room. Caius offered that option. Ryker preferred it. Zane said the public version would draw a harder line and a harder answer in return. In the end the decision was mine.

So I walk into the secondary hall of the neutral compound with...