The door closed with a low, final sound, and for a brief moment the room plunged into a silence that contrasted completely with everything that had happened until then. There were no more outside glances, no more need for immediate calculation, no more theatrics. Only them.
Kael was still standing near the entrance, his gaze wandering the space as if he were finishing an analysis that no longer needed to be done. His posture remained relaxed, but there was something there—a slight lapse in guard, almost imperceptible to anyone else, but not to her.
Exelia didn't wait.
She lunged at him with an energy completely different from the one she maintained outside, as if all the restraint she had carried until then had simply ceased to exist. Her arms wrapped around his neck in the same movement she had leaped, and Kael barely had time to react before feeling the light impact of her body against his.
