Chapter 611: The Silence Before the Fall

The council hall felt heavier than usual.

Not because anything in it had changed, but because nothing ever stayed light for long when Orion called an unscheduled meeting.

The carved oak table stretched under the glow of wavering lanterns, its polished surface reflecting flickers of firelight like restless thoughts. The scent of burning sage lingered in the air, but it did little to soothe the tension that had already settled into the room.

Orion stood at the head of the table.

Caspian sat across from him, cloaked in silence more than fabric, his expression serious. Daniel leaned back in his chair. Mary sat with her usual sharp posture, hands folded neatly, eyes already assessing the room like it had offended her by existing.

Ronan sat half-leaning, half-sprawled in his chair, fingers drumming lightly against the table edge as if the meeting was merely a delay between more interesting things.

Brynhild sat still beside Lysander’s usual seat, her pale eyes unfocused but alert in a way that never needed sight to function. Tobias stood near the side wall instead of sitting, arms crossed, watching the room with quiet caution. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Caspian reached into his cloak and placed a folded parchment on the table. The sound it made against wood was too sharp for something so simple.

"We’ve confirmed who the other woman in Oculum’s drawing is," Caspian said.

Ronan, Orion, and Brynhild were already aware, and from the looks of it, Lysander was too—he and Brynhild told each other everything after all.

"Who is she?" Madam Tyler asked.

"Victoria," Daniel said.

The room stilled slightly.

"You are sure?" Madam Tyler asked him.

"See for yourself, Madam," Caspian said, passing the parchment to her. "I had a hard time remembering because it’s been a while since I saw her—years even."

Madam Tyler frowned at the parchment and then shook her head. "I don’t recognize her," she said softly.

"Maybe I will," Tobias said then.

He was still not fully up to date on what had happened while he was away. Ronan was not done filling him in when Orion called for this impromptu meeting.

He took the parchment and didn’t even look twice before he brought it down and asked the council if it was Sophia in the drawing, and they all nodded.

"You are days too late for a reaction to that. Just tell us if we are right—if the woman standing behind is Victoria," Daniel said.

"It is," Tobias confirmed.

Given how closely he had worked with Victoria when he was in the west, there was no way he would not recognize her.

"I’m curious," Mary said. "Why isn’t Sophia here?"

Ronan immediately raised a hand and pointed lazily toward Orion without even looking at him properly, as if that alone answered everything.

Mary followed the gesture.

Orion didn’t react immediately.

He exhaled once through his nose. "She needed time alone."

Mary blinked once.

"That’s your answer?"

"Yes."

"That’s not an answer," she said sharply. "That’s avoidance."

Mary turned fully toward Orion now. "She is the Luna. I thought she was part of the council already?"

"She is, but like I said, she needed time alone," Orion told her.

"Then perhaps we should have waited until she didn’t need the time alone to have this meeting, don’t you think?" she asked him. "Because it now seems like we are deliberately leaving her out of this meeting."

Orion didn’t answer her.

"Really, Orion?" she asked, her tone one of disbelief.

Orion’s voice stayed controlled. "I will tell her myself."

"And that’s not what I want to know. Did you leave Sophia out of this meeting on purpose when what we are discussing affects her more than it does us? Victoria is the fake Luna and Sophia deserves—"

"I just said I’ll tell her!" Orion said, his voice raised.

He took a deep breath and then calmed himself down. "I’m sorry about that... but can we please focus on why we are here and not on the reason Sophia is not?"

The elders exchanged glances with each other.

"Orion," Daniel called out softly. "Is something bothering you?"

Ronan and Brynhild had noticed it earlier. He didn’t say anything, but it was obvious there was something bothering Orion.

Orion opened his mouth to speak when a sudden, sharp sinking feeling pressed into his chest like an invisible weight.

His expression changed instantly.

Then footsteps sounded—fast and urgent—and Orion knew who it was... Garrett.

The door to the council hall burst open just enough for Garrett to step inside, breath slightly uneven.

His eyes scanned the room quickly.

Then landed on Orion.

"Alpha Orion," he said, voice tight. "One of the guards just reported something from the shrine... They found Sophia collapsed there in a pool of blood."

Garrett continued quickly, as if afraid stopping would make it worse.

"She’s been rushed to the medical facility."

For a second, nobody moved. But then Lysander stood up and left immediately—Sophia was his patient after all, and he needed to know what was wrong.

Orion followed soon after, snapping himself out of his thoughts.

And soon the hall emptied. Orion made his way to the medical facility along with Ronan, Tobias, and Brynhild.

They hung around, waiting for Lysander to give them an answer while Orion’s thoughts traveled.

He sat in a chair, his face buried in his palms.

"Noctis," he called out.

The wolf stirred. *I’m here,* he said.

"Remember when you said I was taking the information about Sophia’s mother well?" he asked softly.

*Yes,* Noctis said.

"Well...I don’t think I am," Orion said. "I’ve been on edge since this morning, and I know it’s because of what I found out."

Noctis didn’t know what to say to that. He too had noticed that Orion was on edge since the morning, and he knew it was because of what he had discovered.

Minutes passed before Lysander came out, and Orion dropped his hands and stared at his brother, who had a frown on his face.