Morning arrived like nothing had happened.
That was the most unsettling part.
No alarms had been raised.
No guards had reported disturbances.
No servants spoke of strange noises beneath the palace.
No one mentioned doors that should not exist.
The world continued as though it had not briefly trembled in its sleep.
And Sebastian hated that more than anything.
Because silence meant either nothing had happened…
or something had happened so deeply buried that even reality refused to acknowledge it.
He stood alone in the training courtyard.
Steel in hand.
Not fighting.
Just holding it.
Testing weight.
Grounding himself.
The blade was familiar.
Simple.
Reliable.
Unlike everything else lately.
The wind moved lightly through the courtyard trees.
Leaves drifted down lazily.
The palace, from this distance, looked almost peaceful.
Almost.
Sebastian exhaled slowly.
Then swung.
Once.
Clean.
Precise.
The air split softly.
He paused.
Listened.
Nothing answered.
