Chapter 41 — The Choice That Breaks the World
The ultimatum arrived at dawn.
It did not come with armies at the gates or fire raining from the sky. It came as a single parchment, sealed in black wax and delivered simultaneously to every major city, every council hall, every guild headquarters across the realm.
By noon, everyone knew.
Elowen read it in silence while the council chamber buzzed with rising panic.
Kael stood beside her, close enough that she could feel the tension radiating from him like heat from banked coals.
Ryn swore under his breath. "He's insane."
Elowen did not look up. "No. He's exact."
She unfolded the parchment fully and read aloud, her voice steady despite the weight of the words.
To the People of the Realm,
The experiment has failed.
You were promised freedom. You were given uncertainty.
You were promised balance. You were given fear.
I will not allow this fracture to deepen.
In seven days' time, the Assembly will dissolve.
