"You're a being revered as a god—" her voice cracked, "—and yet here you are… afraid of a boy who's only hours old?!"
Silence followed.
Then—
He laughed. The Dragon Emperor chuckled. Low. Contemptuous.
"You don't get it, do you?" he said softly. "No matter how well you try to hide it… I know everything."
He raised a single hand.
The air around Draeven and Aephyra crushed inward for a moment—like the world itself had been denied to them.
"You can mask it. You can hide him. You can seal his presence, cloak his talent, bury his fate under illusions and divine scripts… but it changes nothing."
"He's still your child."
"Born of the Eternal Pyre and the Devouring Void."
"A child with a sovereign soul… unfated… untethered to the world's laws. A child beyond destiny. His birth was heaven's mistake and all these are heaven's efforts to make up for its mistakes. Do you truly think someone like that can be allowed to live?"
Silence.
Not even the void dared stir.
