#Chapter 117: Ripples

Kaine The formal dining hall is packed with every noble family that matters and several that only think they do. They are waiting for spectacle; I give them Ember. She enters in the green dress Lila chose, hair loose, royal mark glowing at her shoulder. Conversation dies so fast the silence has teeth. Ember's hand tightens on my arm, but her chin lifts, and the room sees what I see: not a hidden mate, not a scandal, not a guard promoted above her station, but a woman who survived every trap this court set and walked in anyway. Lila rises before the whispers can organize themselves. "The mate bond is sacred," she says, voice carrying to the far doors. "The Moon Goddess has chosen my brother, and she has chosen Ember McMann, whose courage has already served this family and this kingdom." Then she raises her glass. For one sharp second, the court hesitates, and I feel Ember brace beside me as Rafe pushes hard under my skin, ready to answer insult with teeth; then my father sta