ELIAS'S POV
The throne room always felt colder at night.
Not in temperature. The braziers burned steadily, gold light pooling across marble floors and climbing the pillars like liquid fire. But the silence was different once the court was gone. It pressed in. Made every word sound heavier than it should.
I stood beside Cassian at the foot of the throne while Father listened to the advisor's report, his fingers resting against the armrest in that familiar stillness that meant he was thinking too much and sleeping too little.
Papers shifted.
The adviser's voice carried through the room, measured and careful.
"The circulation has increased again in the lower districts. And not only there. We have reports from noble territories as well."
Father's jaw tightened slightly. "I thought it would end after Myrenholde was conquered."
