Gwen returned before the field had fully settled.
Conversations were still forming again after the match, voices low but active, attention shifting in different directions as people adjusted to what they had just seen. That fragile balance did not last long. The moment she stepped forward, it broke cleanly.
She did not arrive alone.
The three women came with her, close enough to be understood as part of the same purpose, separate enough to stand as individuals if needed. Their presence was not introduced. It did not need to be. The intention followed them more clearly than any formal announcement could have.
Darius did not move.
He remained beside me, his attention already on his aunt before she reached us, as though he had expected this exact moment and simply waited for it to arrive. That stillness carried weight. It set the tone before a word had been spoken.
She stopped in front of us.
"Darius," she said.
"Aunt."
Then her gaze shifted to me.
"Lord Valecrest."
