At the head of the crowd stood Talia.
No longer in casual clothes.
No longer crying.
No longer the overwhelmed guild leader that Kaiden had shattered in the negotiations.
Talia offered Kaiden a small nod as he approached. She didn't look angry. But neither did she look friendly.
Instead, she looked like a woman with something to prove.
"Kaiden."
"Talia."
"Lawyers are prepped. Contract's printed, marked, and triple-validated. We sign now. After that, you must descend immediately."
"Understood," Kaiden said, but then looked around, feeling something was missing. "Where are the other awakened of Runewoven? I see nobody besides Diaz… Last time, there were many of your members standing idly by."
"The ownership transfer is to be kept secret for now. Our high-level awakened would not feel great about having such low-levels as partial owners of the guild they work for. I hope you understand…" Talia sighed.
"But it's okay to have level 1, non-awakened owners?" Aria asked.
