After the traitor was captured, the Alliance eting was called again. It was the second ti in a single day and although it wasn’t unusual during the days of ergency, together with the Stonefangs, things were... tense.
And that tension could be seen in the Elders Hall.
The Elders Hall was dead silent.
A silence so heavy that it felt like everyone here was waiting for the next bad thing to fall on their heads.
The people sitting at the table looked exhausted, the Velmourn elders had dark circles under their eyes; in just two days, they seed to have aged ten years.
Morvain’s posture was still straight, but her shoulders looked heavier than yesterday. Lavinia sat half a step behind Kael like always; there was no change in her expression, but her gaze felt more watchful than before.
Gruumak’s expression was harder; he seed... annoyed, like a bomb that might explode any ti now, and Zakaar, who was standing right beside him, ready to translate what was being discussed, felt the effect of Gruumak’s current mood the most.
After a long, almost unsettling silence, Korvath decided to speak, his voice grave.
"We caught a traitor among the Stonefangs,"
He began.
"He leaked information that the Stonefangs are living with us."
The room tightened.
Nyris exhaled slowly, Aelindra’s fingers clenched on the table.
Morvain narrowed her eyes.
"To who?"
She asked.
"We don’t know. Fraza hasn’t spoken. Not even when we forced him."
Korvath shook his head.
When Zakaar translated those words for Gruumak, his jaw moved like he was chewing a stone. The Chief did not like this situation at all.
And the worst part?
There was nothing he could do about it.
Yes, his n were still torturing Fraza to dish out so information but...
Their hands had been empty so far, and from Fraza’s attitude, it didn’t look like he would speak anyti soon.
His hatred for Velmourns, and having to live with them inside the Wall, was... extrely strong.
"If it was leaked... it was leaked to the tribes outside."
Lavinia comnted in a calm voice.
"Most likely the Stormcallers."
Korvath nodded.
They had all co to the sa conclusion.
A low murmur spread between the elders.
"How much does it harm us?"
Morvain asked as she turned towards Korvath, and the commander had the answer ready; after all, this was all he had been thinking about for the past hour.
"It doesn’t change the final outco.
We expected the outside tribes to learn the truth within days. This only pushed it... a few days earlier.
Fraza was caught before more important details could be shared."
Those words were not comforting at all.
Sure, people were glad that the traitor was caught before damage was done but...
What if there are more traitors?
What if they do not catch other traitors on ti?
What if... Kael’s eyes fail?
What if they had... already failed?
What if the enemy already knows sensitive information?
All these questions drowned them in uncertainty; it felt like they were being watched by the shadows while they had next to no information regarding the enemy.
In his frustration, Tarevian gave a small, sharp, and unpleasant snort. He did not say anything, but the action itself carried enough aning.
See? We are already leaking.
This was why the Stonefangs can never be trusted. There is a reason why this has never happened before.
These words were written all over his face.
And Kael...
He turned to Tarevian, read his face, and without missing a beat—
"There was a traitor among the Velmourn too."
He spoke in a cold voice as he looked at Tarevian with a knowing look on his face.
Tarevian’s eyes dropped. His lips pressed together. The other elders did not defend him. They sat in silence; after all, they knew Kael was right—heck, he was the one who had caught the traitor in the first place.
Desperate tis made desperate people.
The elders knew that.
No side was clean.
And even now, even after they had already caught the traitors, the Velmourn side wasn’t completely clean, especially when they had Draksis to deal with.
A man who was... far more complicated than a traitor because he wasn’t a traitor himself.
He was the man with extensive knowledge about the council and the power the council mbers held, so he too understood just how far he could push before they could take action, and he was keeping himself well within those restrictions while still being a problem. A problem with too much power and quite a few supporters.
So yes, no side was clean here.
And because of that, Tarevian too stayed silent, giving in to Kael’s stare.
That was when Gruumak, who had completely ignored Tarevian’s reaction, turned to Kael with a solemn look.
It was rare for the Stonefang Chief to speak in these etings unless soone asked him a question, but this ti he spoke on his own accord.
"How you know Fraza?"
He asked in Stonefang Tongue.
"How you know what he talk?"
And Zakaar translated.
Yes, he knew Kael now understood their tongue, but the Velmourn elders still needed his translations.
The Velmourn elders looked at each other when they heard Zakaar’s words, Morvain’s eyes fell on Kael as well.
They all knew Kael had "eyes."
But they all still wanted a clearer explanation.
What these ’eyes’ were? Was it an ability? If it was, what were its limitations?
They wanted to know everything but—
"I see things."
Kael said the sa thing he had been saying all this ti, an answer that made the Velmourn elders shake their heads helplessly.
But Gruumak did not give up.
"How?"
He asked as his brow twitched.
"I cannot explain."
Kael shook his head.
Gruumak’s frown deepened, and with his frown ca... anger.
"You want trust. But you not tell yourself."
The room tensed.
Zakaar translated quickly.
Morvain’s fingers tightened on the edge of the table, ready to stop the wrong words before they beca a fight.
But Kael did not react strongly; he answered calmly, like he had practiced it hundreds of tis now.
"This is not sothing I can explain.
Think of it as... God’s gift."
"A gift from god."
Gruumak repeated those words with the sa, deep frown.
Then he paused.
His eyes sharpened like he realized what he had just said.
The words felt... wrong.
"A gift from god... to god?"
He tilted his head, confused.
Zakaar translated those words and when the Velmourn elders heard it, the room shifted in discomfort.
After all, the Velmourn elders weren’t used to hearing Kael spoken of like that, at least not so openly, at least not by soone who held... so much power.
But Gruumak wasn’t a politically intelligent man; he always said what he felt.
He had called Kael Dragon God the day he saw him in the battlefield and that image had been imprinted into his mind since then.
This was also the reason he approached Kael to tell on the Stormcallers in the first place.
Not to ntion he had also heard a few of his people had joined the group called the Dawn of the Dragon.
And Gruumak wasn’t the type to ignore what’s happening right in front of him.
Kael, on the other hand, stayed silent.
He understood what was happening; he just did not know how to react to it.
And Lavinia, who sensed his hesitation, spoke in a polite, unusually polite voice.
"You shouldn’t question the Divine."
She spoke as she looked at Gruumak as if she was calming a child.
And the instant she said those words, the room felt... even heavier.
Tarevian’s jaw tightened.
Morvain’s eyes flicked to Lavinia.
Even Kael himself felt... strange. He did not show it, but the small shift in his gaze betrayed it.
He understood what Lavinia was doing.
She was building a wall.
A wall of belief.
And Kael... hated how useful it was.
Because it worked.
He knew it better than anyone, especially when he had his ants giving him tily reports of every important matter.
Gruumak stared at Lavinia for a long second.
Then he looked away, like arguing with faith was a waste of breath.
The silence that settled afterwards was... awkward.
And Morvain—
She pulled the eting back to the real problem with the question.
"What do we do with Fraza?"
She asked.
The room went still again.
Everyone understood what the question ant.
Fraza was a traitor.
A traitor should be executed.
That was the rule.
But the problem was not the rule.
The problem was the difference.
The Velmourn traitor was alive.
He was still inside the Wall, living well among his people.
If the Stonefangs learned that... if they learned a Velmourn traitor lived while a Stonefang traitor died...
It could crack the already fragile unity they were forcing into place.
Kael frowned, even he seed... exhausted now.
Morvain explained the issue to Gruumak carefully, Zakaar translated, Gruumak listened too, then his face twisted in confusion, almost disgust.
"Why traitor alive?"
He asked.
"Because I turned him to our side. I plan to use him."
Kael answered.
"You trust traitor?"
Gruumak did not understand; his logic was simple.
"He betray once. He betray again."
Kael didn’t argue.
He just lifted two fingers and pointed at his own eyes.
"I can see,"
He said.
And Gruumak froze for a mont.
Then he slowly nodded.
He understood what Kael ant; he saw and experienced it today.
But even as he nodded, his expression stayed troubled.
He looked away, he could imagine his people hearing this and not accepting it.
"My people not all understand."
He spoke honestly and for the first ti, the strong Stonefang Leader seed... weak.
The knowledge of there being a traitor under his rule had... an effect on him.
The eting room stiffened at those words, and that was when Lavinia spoke again—
"Why the tension?
Let’s just be honest."
She shrugged, then, her purple eyes shined and—
"Let the people decide."
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