Kaelira woke to footsteps—soft, steady, and too close. Not outside. Not in the hall. Inside the walls.
She barely breathed.
Step… step… step…
The steps traced a circle around her room, as if someone paced, pressed tight between the stones.
Her heart hammered.
She slid her hand beneath her pillow for the dagger, moving quietly off the mattress.
The darkness pressed in, broken only by a spill of silver moonlight cutting across the floor.
The footsteps stopped.
She waited.
Only silence.
Then—knock. Three gentle taps, muffled by stone, sounded behind the fireplace.
Not on the door—inside the wall.
Kaelira scowled. "This isn’t in my mind."
She didn’t call for the guards. Instead, she struck a match and lit a tiny candle. Whatever stalked the palace at night, it hadn’t hurt her. And
