The Arbiter's Betrayal

（This is a novel of female frequency, and you have to go in this direction to generate pictures）

Elara, the revered Adjudicator of The Crossroads, stepped back into her office after a brief retreat.

It was supposed to be a peaceful return.

But the air hummed with an unsettling wrongness.

Her sacred seat was occupied by Seraphina, the young daughter of Elara's oldest friends, Silas and Clara.

In her hand, Seraphina held Elara's Quill of Reckoning.

"You stand accused," Silas declared, his face grim, as Clara's cold eyes echoed the blatant lie: betrayal, an attempt to steal the Quill.