C481 THE SILENT PALACE

"He didn't just leave, Aria. He fled like a man pursued by a monster only he could see," Damon said, his voice a low rumble that filled the high-arched library. He stood by the great map of the borderlands, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. He looked at Aria with a gaze that held both pity and the hard edge of a warrior who knew when the wind had turned foul