The first three days inside the royal compound were a calculated exercise in psychological suffocation.
By day, Jake wore the absolute mask of a defeated prince. He sat across from his tyrannical father in the grand dining hall, picking at his food with a practiced, sullen apathy that successfully convinced King Magnus his rebellious son had finally broken under the pressure of the campus assignments. He allowed the elite guards to monitor his movements through the stone corridors, deliberately slouching his massive 6'6" frame to project the illusion of weakness. He let them believe the university had tamed him.
But by night, the compound turned into an absolute tactical minefield.
Infiltrating the subterranean sectors beneath the high throne room was proving to be a logistical nightmar
