Aurora stared at the elder, waiting to hear what more he had to say to paint her as the one in the wrong.
"You connected the powerful tribes." Caelan gestured toward her. "You married their leaders and young lords. The Wolf Tribe. The Fox Tribe. The Snow Lion Tribe. The North Sea Dragon King and the Divine Phoenix. You created alliances that never existed before."
His voice became increasingly bitter.
"Every husband you gained strengthened your position. Every tribe you connected became less dependent on the Eagle Tribe."
Aurora's eyes narrowed. "You became afraid of me."
"We were afraid of what you were creating." For the first time, Caelan's expression held something close to genuine fear."You have spent less than a year destroying what took us years to build."
