Chapter 53; Power of the Fae

MAERWYN POV

The air in the room was thick with dread as Caelora’s spell dissipated, her hands falling to her sides with a deliberate grace. The ball of air, which had hovered like a silent predator, dissolved into nothingness, but its effect lingered in the wide-eyed stares and the white-knuckled grips of the councilmen on the edges of their seats. Fear was a living, breathing thing here—clinging to their skin, filling their lungs with shallow breaths.

For a moment, the chamber was deathly still. The walls seemed to close in, and all the bravado the council had tried to muster earlier drained away, leaving behind only the naked truth—they were out of time. They had nothing left to cling to but their doubts and fears.

My father’s face, once stern and unyielding, now bore the subtle marks of uncertainty. His jaw clenched, the cords of his neck tightening as if he were wrestling with the gravity of what had just unfolded. The council members looked to him for guidance, for reassurance, b