The castle did not sleep.
Even in the quiet hours before sunrise, Gothic Castle breathed with slow, deliberate life. Torches burned along endless corridors, their flames bending slightly whenever unseen currents of magic drifted through the stone halls.
Theodore stood alone on the highest balcony.
The forest stretched endlessly beyond the castle walls, black and silver beneath the fading night. Somewhere beyond those trees, Emily was moving. Breathing. Learning.
Growing stronger.
His fingers rested lightly on the cold stone railing.
Two generals.
Gone.
He did not mourn them. Soldiers died. That was the nature of command.
But wasted assets irritated him.
More importantly, failure changed perception.
Rumors traveled faster than armies. Already whispers would be spreading through t
