Chapter 71

*Elora*

It started with a knock.

Not loud. Not urgent. Just… firm.

I was sitting cross-legged on Kael’s bed, flipping aimlessly through one of the less-damning strategy books he’d left out. The journal lay hidden beneath the floorboard, untouched since the night I opened it.

The knock came again—then the door opened, and Kael stepped inside.

He looked exhausted. His shirt clung to his chest, damp