*Runze's POV*
I wake before the alarm to a cold, empty bed.
The room is wrapped in gray shadow. Bael's pillow holds only the faintest indentation. I stare at it for a moment before sitting up, dragging my robe over my shoulders, and stepping out into the hallway.
The house is already running differently this morning. Staff move past with quiet urgency, heads down, steps clipped. Near the staircase, two security heads speak in low tones into their earpieces. I catch fragments as I pass.
*"...north perimeter holding..."*
*"...media vans arrived before five..."*
I don't stop to listen. I already know what's outside those gates.
***
I find Bael in the study.
The doors are slightly ajar, the room lit only by the pale gray of early dawn and the cold blue glow of his screens. He is already mostly dressed, dark trousers, white shirt buttoned to the collar, but his tie lies untouched across the desk beside a cup of coffee that has long gone cold.
I push the door open quietly.
