They’ve sealed the east gate... and there’s a rope missing from the storeroom.
The words came like a second blade. They struck me not as rumor this time, but as report — crisp, factual, and impossible to ignore. A sentry’s voice carried down the corridor, breathless, and the palace seemed to freeze around it. Guards looked at one another as if the announcement made the very stone of the halls feel smaller. Liora’s fingers tightened on my sleeve until the fabric creased, and in that simple pressure there was more than fear; there was the plan forming like iron.
“What do they mean sealed?” I asked, though I already knew. Sealed meant no exit, or a controlled exit. It meant whoever moved inside would find the palace a cage. “Who ordered it?”
“A messenger from the outer watch,” a guard answ
