Chapter 292

DEREK’S POV “Tell me everything you know,” I said finally. “Reports from the servants, from the riders. Who in Draven’s inner court hates him? Who envies his power? Who drinks too much and talks too loudly? I want names. I want misdemeanors. I want gossip that can be used to leverage favors.” Kael’s eyes narrowed with the hunting calm he took on when he tracked prey. He nodded once, once hard. “I’ll dig. I’ll burn up the roads if I must.” “You will do it quietly,” I said. “We cannot have footprints.” He scowled, but there was a new method to him now, an iron discipline. “And you—what are you going to do?” he asked, soft, as if asking a friend whether he planned to keep his own vow. “I’ll tighten my network here,” I answered. “I’ll plant rumors that suggest Draven’s pack is unstable, that his loyalties at home are fraying. I’ll send what we can—small, deniable things—to make him look outward for threats. If he looks outward, he ignores inward weaknesses. If he ignores, we move.” Kael pi