The main hall had transformed since Kaelen's last visit. Maps covered the walls, marked with red symbols that indicated affected regions. Messengers stood at attention, their faces pale with exhaustion. The air was thick with tension and the faint smell of sweat.
Kaelen walked to the center of the room, the bond's warmth steady in his chest. The prince stepped aside as he approached, his earlier arrogance replaced by something that looked almost like genuine seriousness.
"The plague," Kaelen repeated. "Tell me everything."
Roland gestured to the largest map, a detailed rendering of the eastern territories. Red marks dotted the landscape like a spreading rash.
"Three weeks ago, the first reports came in," Roland began. "A village called Thornhaven. The inhabitants fell ill with a sickness no healer could identify. Fever. Vomiting. A strange black rash that spread across the skin. Within days, half the village was dead."
