From the tallest tower of the fortress, Sage gazed at the land below - six months gone since the fall of the Unbound. The world now bore her mark, quiet under a wide sky.
It throbbed inside her, that fifth tie. Not quiet. Never still. A web humming beneath the world - countless links alive with breath, with grip, with howling tenderness. Wolves holding fast, teeth clenched around loyalty no rule could touch.
Now the ties held tighter than they had in hundreds of years. Not due to Sage pushing her will on anyone. She made wolves see a different way forward. Strength could live inside closeness, she proved. That truth took root.
Out of ninety-three regions came delegates, shaping choices together. This is how the Continental Assembly ran - not by force, but by talk that settled conflicts. Agreement was its engine. Each voice counted when rulings took form.
