Hector divided the search.
"I take the palace and the gardens. Lysander takes the harbour and the lower town. Paris takes the temple and the walls."
Paris looked at him. "We'll find her. She's alive."
Hector did not answer. He walked toward the palace.
Lysander looked at Paris. Paris's hands were shaking. He had his bow but no arrow nocked — his fingers could not hold the string steady.
"Check every room," Lysander said. "Every stairwell. Every corner."
Paris nodded and went.
Hector opened every door in the palace.
Her chamber first. The bed — untouched. The weaving on the chair. The lamp burned out. He opened the chest beside her bed. Her jewellery. Her shawl. Priam's letter, folded on the table.
She had taken nothing.
He searched the gardens. The fig tree. The stone bench where Andromache sat. The paths between the hedges. He checked the council chamber, the war room, the storage rooms, the servants' quarters.
