Chapter 63 - The War Room
The chamber felt different when Athena entered it this time.
Not tense.
Focused.
The long stone table was covered in maps and markers. Rowan stood to Silas's right. Kael to his left. Several senior wolves lined the walls, silent and attentive.
No one told her to leave.
Silas didn't even look surprised when she took her place beside him.
Kael glanced at her once.
Not with suspicion.
With acknowledgment.
Rowan pointed to a section of the map.
"They've set camp along the eastern ridge. High ground. Clear view of the valley."
Silas nodded. "They want us to see them."
"They're trying to force movement," Kael added. "They won't cross the boundary first."
Athena watched the way they spoke.
The way decisions were made quickly, calmly, without raised voices.
She listened as patrol routes were assigned. As defensive positions were discussed. As wolves volunteered for night watch without being asked.
And as she stood there...
Something strange happened.
The room blurred for a split second.
The map in front of her shifted.
Not in reality.
In her mind.
She saw a different table.
Wood instead of stone.
Torches instead of lanterns.
Voices speaking in the same calm, focused tone.
A man's voice - deep, steady, familiar in a way that made her chest tighten.
"Hold the eastern ridge. Do not let them take the valley."
Athena blinked hard.
The present snapped back into place.
Her hand had tightened on the edge of the table without her realizing it.
Silas noticed immediately.
"What is it?" he asked quietly.
She swallowed.
"I've seen this before."
Kael's head lifted slightly.
"Seen what?"
"This," she whispered. "A room like this. People standing around a table like this. Talking about ridges and valleys and patrols."
Her breathing grew uneven.
"I don't know how, but I remember it."
Silas's expression darkened with understanding.
A memory.
Not a feeling.
A memory.
Athena pressed her hand to her temple.
"There was a man," she said softly. "Giving orders. Calm. Confident."
Her voice trembled.
"I think... I think he was my father."
Silence filled the chamber.
Kael and Rowan exchanged a quick look.
Silas's hand moved to rest lightly against her back.
Grounding.
Present.
Kael spoke after a moment, voice low.
"They won't attack today."
Athena blinked, trying to steady herself.
"They're waiting for us to make the first move."