The town had begun to breathe again.
Smoke rose from repaired chimneys. Children laughed in the mud, chasing stray chickens like no shadow had ever haunted their sleep. The blacksmith's forge had fire again. Soldiers took turns patrolling and planting winterroot along the stone walls. Even the garrison dog, Tooth, had returned with half a boot and a full belly.
It wasn't peace.
But it looked a little like it.
Then came the letter.
A messenger arrived at midday — alone, cloaked, with no emblem on his horse. He gave no name. Just a scroll sealed in gold wax.
Zareena read it in the war room, flanked by her officers.
To the Lady Valeska ibn Rashanov,
House Marcerov extends its warmest respect for your recent efforts in restoring order to the Vireloch region. Your fort has survived what most would not. That, we admire.
Rumors reach even our cold halls — of unity among the misfit, of strange lights in the trees, of a flame that burns deeper than snow.
We propose a meeting. A small delegation, in three weeks' time.
Let us speak of shared interests, regional security… and future profit.
Yours in friendship and foresight,
— Lord Elenrik Marcerov
(Of the Eastern Vale)
Zareena set the scroll down slowly. Her face unreadable.
"They smell opportunity," said Doren. "Like rats do a dying wolf."
"Or they think we've struck something valuable," Erenya added.
Zareena didn't answer. She was still thinking about the surveyor's report from that morning.
A vein of ore, iron-rich and tinged with faint silver, had been found in the southern cliffside. Likely overlooked for years.
Enough to arm a garrison, maybe more. Enough to trade.
Enough to draw attention.
"We keep the vein secret," she said. "Only our own dig it. No merchants yet. Not until I know what kind of visitors Marcerov plans to send."
Her hand tapped the scroll once.
"They don't want peace. They want leverage. We'll give them none."
That night, under the pale fire of moonlight, Zareena stood on the half-frozen ridge and looked down at the valley below.
The snow had melted in patches. The mine glinted faintly in the dark.
Behind her, Fort Vireloch breathed like a sleeping beast.
"Let them come," she whispered. "But they'll find the wolf awake."