The celebration continued into the late afternoon, joy blanketing the palace like fresh snow. Music swelled, goblets clinked, and laughter filled every hall. But not all in attendance rejoiced.
From the marble balustrade overlooking the grand courtyard, Celene Verrick watched with a stillness that bordered on predatory.
Once a respected scholar of royal history and now one of the senior recordkeepers in the palace archives, Celene had spent over a decade weaving herself quietly into the background of the court—observing, learning, collecting whispers the way a spider collects dew. And now, for the first time in years, her heart beat with true hunger.
Nova Rosewood. A name she would not forget.
She watched the newly crowned Luna with narrowed eyes, noting the reverent awe that followed
