Kael
The portal flared open, and in a heartbeat they stepped through, emerging at the gates of the imperial palace. According to strict tradition, portals were forbidden from opening directly inside unless summoned by the emperor himself.
A crowd was already waiting. Dozens of people, their faces pale and streaked with tears, knelt before the gates. Their voices rose in a broken chorus that carried through the courtyard like a haunting prayer.
"Bring back our children!" they cried as one. "Bring back our children!"
Kael's fists tightened until the veins along his arms bulged. The grief in the air pressed against him like a weight, suffocating in its sorrow. But what twisted inside him was different. No one wept for Ryn. No one's heart broke for him but his, Veyr's, and Sylas's. It filled Kael with rage, that Ryn could be forgotten while others were mourned.
