"History is not written by the victors, but by the ones who know what must never be said."
NIKO'S POV
The silence was the deepest kind of magic. It was not the silence of fear, but the profound, resonant quiet of an absolute, final victory. It had been nearly twelve hours since I stumbled out of the Royal Chambers, screaming for the guards, moments before my mind shattered under the psychic strain of holding the line for Elias. Now, as the evening chill settled over the Northern Castle, the chaotic noise of war had been replaced by the focused, quiet efficiency of order.
