{"When the sea brings death to the shore, something deeper has awakened."}
We were deep in our conversation, and Ellowen had her arms crossed, brows furrowed in thought, while Fenris paced just behind her like the wolf he often became when agitated. I leaned back against the stone outcrop of the terrace wall, hands tight around the edge, knuckles white.
"The council is hiding something," Fenris growled low. "Nerisca, Ardanis too. That storm was a warning. The question is, for whom?"
"I keep telling you," I muttered, gaze lost somewhere over the fading clouds beyond the castle towers, "that power is ancient. Familiar. And it knows me."
Ellowen's head snapped up. "Knows you how, Caelan?"
I hesitated, and the truth sat on my tongue like salt. "It feels like something I have brushed against before, something from the sanctuary. And the Pearl Castle. But it is like hearing a song you used to know, and now only remember in fragments. Just echoes."
