Private The Imprisoned Wolf

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Sith Detention Centre
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

Selene let out a sigh as she stared up at the ceiling, counting the number of tiles for the…honestly she’d forgotten how many times she had counted them now. But it was keeping her mind occupied, and that was what mattered.

Not that she’d be able to do anything, even if she could awaken.

The raven-haired young woman turned her head, glancing towards the forcefield that quietly hummed with power. It was the only real sound, beyond the muffled commotion happening elsewhere in the building.

Ultimately though, Selene couldn’t help but feel like this was all just…inevitable.

She had spent the past few years avoiding this kind of situation, just barely so in a couple instances. This time she had finally found a stable job again, after so long. It wasn’t the most glamorous thing, and was most definitely mundane and boring. But it involved a lot of number crunching, and again it kept her brain focused during those late night shifts.

But of course, something had to go wrong.

Selene had been deep into a night shift when she had felt the telltale lull of sleep trying to surface. She had gone into her desk drawer to get her stim; something to help keep her ‘topped up’ for the night. Except for the fact it was gone, likely stolen away by some nosey co-worker who had nothing better to do.

Guess if they were going to report me, they’ve got worse things to deal with now.

The next thing Selene knew she woke up at the desk, only with her hands covered in blood. And everyone else on the night shift was dead, bodies scattered across the floor they all worked on. What her ‘other half’ seemingly failed to take into account, was the fact the place had cameras everywhere, and a silent alarm.

It didn’t take long for a more heavily armed squad of security to storm in and apprehend her.

Now she was in some detention centre, awaiting whatever decision was being made about her fate. There was no plausible deniability this time, the whole ‘only survivor’ held no ground either.

Selene shook her head, she was as they put it ‘stuck up shit creek without a paddle’ right now.

“You’ve got a visitor.”

The sudden voice broke her train of thought, only now realizing a guard had approached the holding cell. Someone was to see her? Now that had Selene's curiosity, and interest.

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

Gerwald watched the footage again. The same movements. The same violence. The same silence at the end. He had memorized every second of it, and still he found something new each time. Her posture changed before the first blow landed. The rhythm of her breathing shifted. The moment before she lost control had become the point of his fascination. There was a heartbeat where reason remained, where she might have stopped. Yet the darkness within her did not hesitate.

The cabin of the shuttle was quiet. The hum of the engines filled the air while the glow of the holoprojector flickered across his face. He had seen many like her, those who thought they could bury what they were. Some hid behind medicine, some behind discipline, and others behind the false comfort of ordinary life. None of it ever lasted. The Force was not easily silenced. It spoke in dreams, in anger, and in the space between thought and breath.

He closed the feed and sat back. The reflection of the recording lingered in his eyes as the stars began to slow. The detention complex came into view through the viewport, a spire of black steel surrounded by white floodlights. It looked more like a tomb than a prison. That seemed fitting.

The ramp lowered. He stepped into the corridor without speaking, his boots striking the floor in even rhythm. The guards did not greet him. They simply moved aside. Every soldier stationed there knew the symbol on his armor and the weight it carried. He was not a visitor. He was judgment given form.

The air inside the facility was stale, touched with the scent of metal and faint ozone from the energy barriers that lined the cells. The lighting was sharp and cold, revealing every flaw in the walls. It was a place built to contain what could not be understood.

Gerwald stopped at the cell where she waited. The woman sat on the narrow bed, her head tilted toward the ceiling as if counting the lights above her. Her dark hair framed a face that looked too calm for what the reports described. The Force pressed against the air between them, soft at first, but restless. Something beneath her skin still remembered the taste of blood.

He studied her in silence, measuring the rise and fall of her chest and the faint tremor in her fingers. Every piece of her was data, and yet none of it explained the why. That was what interested him most.

“You left quite the impression,” he said. “I doubt you remember much of it?”

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Sith Detention Centre
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

She could feel his presence long before he physically set foot before her cell. It was the first time Selene could properly feel someone through the Force. Not that she made a habit of being around them previously. Whoever this was, their very presence commanded respect and obedience. Didn’t need to spare a glance or speak a word to part through a crowd of people.

When he finally appeared, Selene wasn’t able to recognize him, but it wasn’t difficult to understand what he was.

The curt bow/nod from the guard, followed by a muttered, but respectful ‘My Lord.’

Light amber eyes followed the man as he strode further, stopping and turning to face her from beyond the other side of the forcefield. Selene said nothing, her gaze simply taking measure of the towering figure.

Definitely over six feet tall, adorned in armour, armed with a pair of lightsabers and a hammer, and mane full of hair.

The face was familiar too, but only in passing and one that she couldn’t place.

But what he was? That was unmistakable.

A Sith Lord had come to pay her a visit. And Selene didn’t know how much of that was a good thing, and how much of that was a bad thing.

But before she could open her mouth to answer him, she was interrupted.

“Or the screaming." The guard who had decided to remain for a while longer. “Pardon me, my Lord. I felt it was important information…” He paused for a few moments, waiting for permission to continue. “The two nights she was here. On the first, she seemingly fell asleep only to; a second later, leap from the cot and slam into the forcefield. Tried attacking it, until giving up and letting out this…scream. The second night was nearly the same, only she stalked around her cell for a time, before making that noise again.”

The guard offered to contact security to pass a copy of the recordings to Gerwald, whether he did or not, the guard would depart to leave the two alone.

Selene’s brow furrowed however, it was the first time she had heard of her ‘other half’ screaming during her time awake. For a moment she wondered what that meant, until she realized the Sith Lord was looking at her again.

“No, I don’t remember any of it. I never do.” She finally answered.

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

The barrier cast pale light that shimmered across the metal floor and drew faint lines across Selene's face. Her eyes followed every small shift in the air, though she kept her posture steady. The cell felt too calm for what he had seen in the recordings. Calm often hid the most dangerous truths.

Silence pressed harder than any question. She waited for him to speak, yet she did not shrink from his stare. The Force curled around her in quiet motion, gathering without direction. The disturbance revealed more than her voice ever could.

"You do not remember," he said. "I expected that."

Her reaction came as a small tightening of the shoulders. Not fear. Not guilt. Just the weary acknowledgment of a truth she had lived with for far too long. Her hands rested on her legs with a stillness that did not match the pulse of the Force around her.

The guard's report echoed in his thoughts. Night terrors that threw her into the barrier. Sudden shifts from sleep to attack. The scream that carried through the walls. The recordings had shown the same presence waking inside her, a presence that cared nothing for witness or consequence.

"You acted with intent," he said. "Even when you were not aware."

stepped closer until the barrier's light slid across the plates of his armor. Her composure held. Her posture remained even. Nothing about her suggested the chaos he had seen on the recordings, yet the Force continued to move around her in faint ripples.

"You can stay here or can wait for whatever decision they plan to make."

He let the words settle.

"I can also take you from this place."

He did not soften the offer, nor did not explain it. The Wolf simply stated the path as it was.

"If you choose to leave with me, the cell opens. If you do not, I walk away and this ends here."

His gaze stayed fixed on her, calm and steady.

"The choice is yours."

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Sith Detention Centre
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

“I didn’t do anything.” Despite how quick the retort left her lips, Selene’s tone remained even. And her eyes showed nothing but the fact she was speaking the truth, or at the very least what she believed completely.

Which was not exactly something that would go down well if she was brought before a court.

Even if it wasn't Selene who had done the killing, she was still caught on camera murdering her co-workers. And she didn’t need to do the math to know it would result in a very lengthy sentence.

For the first time, she broke eye contact with Gerwald, and instead looked down at her hands. A mix of emotions swirling about for a few moments.

Inevitability. Resignation. Resolution.

Her head snapped up, eyes focusing on Gerwald again.

Selene knew her answer, and was fairly certain the Sith Lord already knew.

But she was always one to be prudent.

“What exactly are you offering, by taking me from this place?”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

Gerwald did not move when she spoke. The retort landed with the force of conviction rather than defiance, and he studied her face for any sign of doubt. There was none. Her belief in her own innocence stood firm, even as the evidence around her told a different story. That contrast interested him far more than the murders themselves.

Her gaze dropped to her hands. The shift carried no weakness, only the weight of calculation. She understood her situation. She understood what the courts would see. She understood the sentence waiting on the other side of this cell.

He waited. She gathered herself. Her eyes lifted again, sharper now, as if the decision she carried had settled into place.

“What exactly are you offering?”

Gerwald stepped forward until the barrier’s glow touched the edges of his armor and cast faint reflections across the floor.

“I offer release from this cell,” he answered. “You walk out under my authority, and the judgment of this place no longer concerns you.”

He let the quiet return for a moment.

“You come to Jutrand. You answer to me. You learn the truth of what lives within you instead of waiting for strangers to decide your fate.”

His eyes held hers with calm intent.

“I offer direction, not absolution. You have power and no understanding of it. I will change that.”

The forcefield hummed between them, steady and sharp.

“If you accept, you leave now. If you refuse, the guards return and they will do with you whatever they want.”

His voice remained even.

“That is the offer.”

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Sith Detention Centre
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

He wants to take me on as an apprentice.

It was midway through Gerwald’s response that the conclusive thought struck Selene. There was a chance she was mistaken, but why else would a Sith Lord be interested enough to personally come free her?

Well for one thing, it isn’t really ‘you’ he’s after, is it?

Selene’s mood soured for a few moments, before she pushed it; and the thought, to the recesses of her mind. Whether it ended up being true or not, she was determined to not let such an opportunity slip through her fingers.

Especially if the Sith could provide the means to control the thing that had tormented her since childhood. Selene had long since lost count of the amount of nights worth of sleep she had lost. Having to physically restrain herself beforehand, to ensure her ‘other half’ didn’t go on a murder fest if she simply dozed off.

Slowly, Selene stood up from the cot she was sitting on, stepping closer towards the forcefield. Even then, she had to look up at Gerwald who was still easily towering over her. The Sith was an imposing presence. Making it all too clear, that if she had done something to annoy or irritate him, a forcefield wasn’t going to be an impediment.

As she looked up into the Sith Lord’s eyes, Selene felt an earlier thought resurface.

She didn’t know how much of this was a good thing, and how much of it was a bad thing. But what she did know was staying here was not going to lead to anything good.

“Very well, I accept your offer.”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

Gerwald watched the shift in her posture when she rose from the cot. The choice had settled in her eyes before she spoke, but he waited for her to give it voice. The moment carried no tension. She stood in the glow of the barrier, small against the height of his frame, yet steady. Her answer came without hesitation.

“Very well, I accept your offer.”

Gerwald raised a hand. The gesture was calm, almost indifferent, yet the response from the room came with immediate effect. The forcefield flickered once before it dissolved into silence. The guards at the end of the corridor did not approach. His presence alone was command enough.

“Once you step out of this cell, your life changes. That is the only thing I can promise.”

When Selene crossed the threshold, Gerwald turned without another word and began walking. She followed, unsure if the path ahead was freedom, danger, or both.

The detention center faded behind them.

The training chamber inside the Spire opened with quiet hydraulics. Selene stepped into a space shaped by function. Smooth walls of matte obsidian metal curved upward and blended into a high ceiling lined with narrow strips of white light. The illumination cast long reflections across the polished floor, a surface reinforced to withstand impact and heat. The chamber felt alive with a faint hum that suggested hidden systems waiting for command.

Racks lined both side walls. They held practice blades, weighted staves, durasteel batons, and a series of live weapons secured in magnetic mounts. The sabers on the far rack rested in a locked cradle, each one silent yet unmistakably real. A few training drones sat inactive in recessed alcoves, their lenses dark. Nothing inside the room served an aesthetic purpose. Every object existed to build or break something.

Gerwald stood near the center of the chamber. The lighting caught the lines of his armor and the fall of his hair. His presence fit the room in a way that made it clear he had shaped it or spent enough time here to claim it without speaking. Selene felt the atmosphere of the chamber press around her, controlled and watchful, as if the room itself expected her to prove something.

“You accepted my offer, now I need to understand what foundation you bring.”

He took a few slow steps across the open floor. His boots left no sound on the reinforced surface. The motion was measured, the kind that suggested he knew every inch of this room and everything it had seen.

“Training means nothing without purpose. Purpose means nothing without knowledge. Many claim to know the Sith. Few understand what shapes us.”

He faced her fully.

“I am not asking for legends or rumors. I am asking for the words that stand at our core.”

His voice carried calm authority, as if the question had been waiting for her long before she arrived.

“Tell me what you know of the Sith Code. Whatever you have heard. Whatever pieces you remember. I want only what you know.”

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Jutrand, Training Chamber
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

As Selene set foot on Jutrand, she couldn’t help but feel amused. Her now former workplace had their main office located on the planet. And amongst her co-workers had been a motto: If you make it to Jutrand, you’ll make it big!

Well here she was.

Just for a completely different reason, and through entirely other means.

The Sith Lord finally introduced himself during the journey. Gerwald Lechner. It almost immediately clicked why Selene had recognized his face initially. She had seen it; and heard his name, in a few broadcasts here and there.

A member of the Dark Council.

If there wasn’t already an undercurrent uncertainty; over a Sith Lord of all people being interested in her. It cemented itself upon that particular revelation. But the young woman didn’t let it impede her, and she followed in step as they had departed the shuttle and headed inside.

There was a brief reprieve, as Gerwald had a matter he had to attend for a moment. It gave Selene time to collect her thoughts, and change into a basic training garb that had been provided. When she stepped into the training room, the Sith Lord was already waiting towards the chamber’s center.

Selene’s eyes glanced around, taking in the various weapons that lined the walls and filled various racks. There was no missing the fact the room had a history interwoven throughout. Shared with the blood, sweat and tears that had been shed over the years.

As Gerwald began to speak, the young woman stood to attention. Her posture was neutral, but professional, arms crossed behind her back. The question raised had Selene pause, her gaze lingering away for a moment as she thought about her response, or rather how to respond.

From her initial impressions of the Sith Lord, being coy wasn’t desired right now.

“I know nothing of the Sith Code,” was her initial answer. “I only entered Sith Space under a year ago to find work. And there was never any mandate or such to read up on it.”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

Gerwald let her words settle. Honesty carried a certain weight in his experience. Most people tried to dress their ignorance, tried to offer half remembered phrases or rumors to gain favor. Selene did not reach for anything. She simply admitted what she did not know.

That told him as much as any fluent recitation of the Code.

“You know nothing of it,” he said quietly. “Good. That means I do not have to cut through someone else’s version first.”

His gaze did not leave her as he spoke. Memory pulled the security feed back into sharp focus. The way her body had moved through that office refused to match the life she described. Each step had followed a path that suggested awareness of angles and lines of attack. Her reactions had shown anticipation, not wild flailing. Targets fell in a sequence that closed exits and limited responses.

That was not the work of a frightened clerk.

Either something very old moved through her, or something had been buried so deeply that even her conscious mind had no access to it. The lack of training here in Sith space ruled out any recent instruction. That only sharpened the question.

“You came here for work..."

His tone held observation, not accusation.

“That makes what I watched even less expected.”

He shifted his weight slightly, enough to draw his senses tighter around her. The Force around Selene carried a restless edge. Nothing about it felt shaped. No clear discipline, no refined focus. Raw potential sat coiled without form.

“Your body behaved like a weapon in those lost hours. Your mind has no memory of it. Your history here does not support that level of instinct.”

A brief pause followed while he studied the set of her shoulders, the way she held her hands.

“This leaves several possibilities,” he continued. “You could have been trained very young and then cut off from that life. You could carry an influence that takes more than your thoughts when it surfaces. You could hold something older in your bloodline that never woke until recently.”

He did not present any of those as certainty. He laid them out as pieces on a table.

“I do not intend to guess when I can confirm.”

His eyes fixed on hers with steady focus.

“Tell me about the first time anything like this happened,” he said. “Not the most recent incident. The first one you remember that did not feel like sleep, that did not feel like your own choice.”

His voice remained even.

“I need the earliest memory, not the clearest one.”

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Jutrand, Training Chamber
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

She hadn’t expected Gerwald’s response to her lack of knowledge to be so…accepting. But she supposed it was better to educate a blank slate, than someone who already held preconceived notions.

The young woman held her ground, and the Sith’s gaze as he seemed to examine her. It felt like he was trying to look through her, to figure out how she ticked. It might’ve unnerved Selene, if she wasn’t already used to being stared at.

As Gerwald began voicing his speculation, the urge to refute what he was saying rose within Selene. But before she could even open her lips to answer, the Sith Lord’s eyes fell into a steady focus towards her.

“My earliest memory?” Selene began, her eyes lingering away as she thought about it. Not that it took too long, as there had only ever been one other incident like this.

“It was when I was fourteen, still living in an orphanage. I woke up one night, bloody knife in my hand and…many people dead. Other than that, and what happened at the office a few days ago, they’re the only occasions where I’ve woken up amidst it. Every other time; if something has happened, I’ve gone to sleep in my bed, and woken back up in it.”

Selene took a breath, her attention focusing back on Gerwald once more.

“I should note, that wasn’t the first orphanage I lived in, not the first ‘tragedy’ that occurred in one. As far as I’m aware, this kind of thing has been happening since I was a child.”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

Gerwald did not answer right away. Selene’s account settled into his thoughts piece by piece, aligning with what he had already observed and sharpening questions he had not yet asked. Fourteen years old marked the first remembered incident. An orphanage provided the setting. A knife served as the tool. Sleep stood as the dividing line between awareness and action. The pattern did not begin with training or ideology. It began with circumstance.

Orphanages functioned as controlled environments. Oversight existed, yet attachment rarely did. Tragedy could be explained away without scrutiny. Staff rotated. Records were incomplete. Children were moved quietly from place to place. Patterns disappeared under the weight of grief and bureaucracy. The fact that Selene mentioned more than one orphanage carried significance. Repetition suggested continuity rather than coincidence.

Not the first orphanage. Not the first tragedy.

That detail remained fixed in his mind.

The security footage from the office told a different story altogether. The movements captured there showed awareness of space and timing. The presence that acted through her had closed distance efficiently and positioned itself with intent. That level of control did not belong to something newly awakened. Whatever emerged during those lost hours had learned over time. It surfaced rarely, but when it did, it acted with purpose.

The restraint shown between incidents mattered as much as the violence itself.

Gerwald studied Selene where she stood. Her posture remained even. Her breathing stayed steady. Nothing in her stance suggested formal training or rehearsed discipline. Yet the Force around her did not rest. It gathered and receded in subtle waves, unshaped but persistent. No structure guided it. No framework contained it. Potential existed without form.

Sleep remained the threshold where control shifted.

That separation suggested something deeply ingrained. Memory loss functioned as a barrier strong enough to protect the waking mind while allowing the body to act freely. The divide could have formed as a defense, or it could have been imposed long before she had any choice in the matter. Both possibilities carried weight.

Gerwald lifted his gaze fully to her.

“Fourteen,” he said. The word served as confirmation rather than inquiry. “That was the first time you remember waking inside it?”

He watched for any change in her expression. None came.

“The others happened while you slept through the result.”

Gerwald remained where he was, yet his attention sharpened. The analysis did not end with understanding alone. Understanding without direction solved nothing. Whatever lived inside Selene had persisted for years without guidance, without structure, and without a counterbalance strong enough to meet it.

“I can help you,” he said at last.

The words came without weight or promise. They were offered as fact rather than persuasion.

“What you carry is unshaped. That is neither rare nor permanent. The Force does not demand chaos. It demands direction.”

His gaze held steady on her as he spoke. He did not reach for a weapon. He did not move closer. He allowed the room to remain still.

“I cannot erase what has happened. I cannot guarantee what you will become. What I can offer is instruction. Awareness. Control while you are awake, and discipline where you are not.”

He let the silence settle again, allowing space for the meaning to land without pressure.

“This place exists to teach the body and the mind to work together. You will learn to recognize the threshold before you cross it. You will learn to remain present rather than waking to aftermath.”

The Force stirred faintly around them, responsive but contained.

“You have lived with uncertainty long enough. You do not need answers today. You need a path that prevents this from continuing as it has.”

His eyes remained on hers.

“That is what I can provide.”

 

[Selene Valeheart]

Location: Jutrand, Training Chamber
Tags: Gerwald Lechner​

Don’t need to erase what has happened. I’ve long since numbed myself to it.

But even then, Selene could never forget what she felt that night. The fear, panic and confusion. How could you not? Suddenly waking up with a bloody knife in hand. It certainly didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. But it was the fact she couldn’t remember it, not even a second of it.

That is what had freaked her out so much. And that didn’t even touch on her later realisation of it not being the first occasion.

Selene remained quiet, listening as Gerwald continued. The talk of the Force had her shift her focus away. She had it; a connection to rather. One of the orphanages had run a test to check how many of the kids were sensitive to it. She could remember the excitement amongst the other children, wondering if Jedi would come to take them away to train.

Rarely was that ever the case.

And Selene didn’t miss the irony that years later, it was a Sith who had found her.

But if it was a Sith who could help her with…everything going on, especially with it? Then she wasn’t going to hesitate in taking that jump.

However, as Selene went to reply she froze. She felt a familiar sensation, the edges of her consciousness being tugged on. It wasn’t new to her, a telltale sign she was close to falling asleep. But she was wide awake, there was no doubt in that. So why…

I think I should get a say in this too.

Darkness encompassed Selene, her conscious mind being yanked back as though someone had pulled the cord. To Gerwald however, it appeared more like someone had just snapped strings holding Selene up.

Her head suddenly slumped forwards, and her arms fell loosely to her sides. The young woman’s body seemed to wobble, yet somehow managed to remain standing. Her skin gradually shifted to a more pale shade. Hands shifting into something more akin to claws.

And when ‘Selene' finally lifted her head, a pair of crimson red eyes greeted the Sith Lord.

“Well I’ll be damned, that actually worked.”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Selene Valeheart

The crimson gaze remained fixed on Gerwald longer than expected. The confidence that had accompanied the transition did not hold. Attention turned inward, as if the presence had only just recognized the state it occupied.

The body stayed upright, yet the control over it no longer appeared effortless. Subtle tension moved through the shoulders and hands in a way that had not been present before. The Force around her no longer gathered with intent. It shifted unevenly, responding to uncertainty rather than command.

The red eyes dropped briefly, tracking the position of the hands and the steadiness of the body, before lifting again. Awareness followed the motion. Disbelief surfaced in the way the stare sharpened rather than relaxed.

Gerwald observed without advancing. The moment unfolded without pressure.

This emergence had not followed the pattern the presence expected. Sleep had always created distance. That distance was absent now. Selene's awareness had not faded gradually. It had been displaced, and the distinction mattered.

The Force stirred again as the presence tested the boundaries of its hold. Control remained, yet it no longer felt absolute. The certainty that had driven its earlier actions had fractured into calculation.

"You did not expect to surface while she was awake."

The statement landed without challenge.

Gerwald remained still. The room did not shift to accommodate the presence. The weapons along the walls remained inert. Nothing acknowledged its arrival except him.

The realization settled.

Whatever shared Selene's body had crossed a boundary without intending to. It stood revealed under conditions it did not fully understand, and that imbalance now belonged to Gerwald rather than to it.

He waited.

The pause extended, and Gerwald allowed it to do so. The presence had revealed itself under conditions it had not anticipated, and that alone provided information. Whatever shared Selene's body had acted with confidence in the past, but confidence had always come from concealment. That advantage no longer applied.

Gerwald shifted his attention inward rather than outward. The Force around her carried coherence now, but it remained incomplete. Control existed, yet it was provisional. That distinction mattered more than intent.

He did not move closer. He did not draw on the Force. He did not press the imbalance further. Curiosity guided him, not dominance.

"You heard the offer."

The statement rested in the air. He was not asking a question, but the Dread Wolf expected a response nonetheless.