The words hung in the air, cold and definitive. King Clive's face, already etched with weariness, now turned to a mask of grim comprehension.
Viana had not only been right, she had been terrifyingly, impossibly right. The blight was real.
The unseen war had truly begun. The implications of this hidden attack, coupled with Arin's looming threat, settled upon him with a crushing weight.
His gaze swept from the cowering prisoners to Joel, then finally to Viana, his eyes now filled with a profound, terrifying understanding.
