The first sign is not power.
It is irrelevance.
⸻
Zane notices it one morning when the heir wakes laughing instead of listening.
The sound startles him so badly he freezes, heart lurching as if the world might demand something in response. For a breathless moment he waits for the familiar hum, the outward pull, the reflexive tightening of the bond.
Nothing happens.
The laugh simply exists.
Small. Bright. Entirely unnecessary.
Zane exhales shakily and laughs too, pressing his forehead to the child’s hair.
“You’re not supposed to do that,” he murmurs. “You’re supposed to be watching the world.”
The heir gurgles in response, delighted, and bats at his collar with clumsy fingers.
Jason sees it from the doorway and has to turn away.
⸻
It becomes noticeable to others soon after.
Th
