The palace closed like a jaw.
The main doors were locked first. Then the internal passages. After that, the service routes, side corridors, cellars, servants' staircases, and upper galleries. Red runes lit one by one on the walls of the Palace of Black Blood, forming a containment network so ancient that the stone itself seemed to wake in a bad mood.
Royal guards moved without shouting. Violet did not need to repeat orders. A gesture was enough to shift patrols, isolate corridors, and replace servants in strategic positions. No one ran. No one panicked. In a way, that made everything worse. A palace in chaos was loud. A vampiric palace on a hunt was silent.
