Mira's POV
I visited Adrian more often than I probably should have, given that Rowan still hadn't fully decided whether to trust him, though something about the careful, patient way Adrian answered my questions, even the ones he clearly couldn't fully address, made the east wing feel less like a prison and more like a conversation I hadn't finished having yet.
He sat by the window when I arrived that afternoon, the same spot he seemed to favor most days, watching the training fields below with the particular stillness I'd come to associate with him, patient in a way that felt considerably older than his apparent age suggested.
"You look thoughtful," he said, without turning from the window.
"I'm always thoughtful."
"Not like this." He finally glanced toward me, something assessing in
