The silence that followed my choice did not dissolve when the silver light receded.
It remained in the room, lingering in the stone, in the air, in the way neither man moved for several long seconds after I said the words aloud.
I could feel it like pressure against my skin, subtle but constant, as though the space around us had become aware that something had shifted and was not yet finished rearranging itself around that truth.
I stood where I was, breathing slowly, letting the last faint traces of moonlight settle back beneath my skin. The power had not vanished. It had only quieted.
That frightened me less than it should have. A few days ago, I would have mistaken that kind of silence for safety. Now I understood that stillness could be far more dangerous than chaos, because stillness meant something was waiting.
Kael was the first one to speak.
"You don't even understand what you've done."
