23 Meryn

Arriving at the embattled encampment, Meryn decides Saela must be kept away from the front and accepts Venna’s offer to guard her in a Bonded rest tent. Passing through a strained triage, Meryn is shaken by the death of a former peer, underscoring the cost of the war as she, Stark, and Noemi enter the command tent.

Siegrid briefs them: Phylax lines have collapsed, farmers refuse evacuation, Astreona has sent a powerful Siphon general with reinforcements, and the Bonded magic surge is erratic and harmful. Seeking a path forward, Meryn uses the crown to trigger foresight. Vision after vision ends in slaughter—Noemi, Venna, Siegrid, and Stark among the dead—until one thread shows Siphons in retreat when Meryn unleashes her shadebending.

Meryn proposes riding out alone to minimize friendly casualties, but Siegrid forbids it and orders Stark to accompany her, asserting his lineage protects him from her shadow power. Despite Stark’s objections, Meryn insists the risk is necessary to prevent starvation if the farmlands fall. They agree on the plan and details for a rapid strike ahead of the expected attack.

Before dawn, Meryn goes to Saela for a farewell and asks to borrow their mother’s necklace for power. The moment she takes it, Saela is compelled to “go to” Killian—revealing the necklace had been blocking a sire bond. Meryn immediately returns it, restoring Saela’s autonomy, warns Venna to watch it, and departs. Armed with crown, determination, and Anassa, and escorted by Stark, Meryn rides out to confront the Siphons first.