Stillness had a sound.
Lyra discovered it the next morning.
It wasn’t silence...no.
It was the absence of movement she was used to.
No early council voices echoing through the halls.
No scrolls waiting for her review.
No footsteps rushing to meet her with updates.
Just… quiet.
Too much of it.
She stood by the window, arms folded beneath her chest, her gaze stretched across the courtyard below. Wolves moved. Guards rotated. Life continued.
Without her.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
“I won’t get used to this.”
The words were quiet....but firm.
Behind her, Kael stirred where he had been watching her far longer than she realized.
“You’re not meant to get used to it,” he said.
Lyra didn’t turn.
“Then what am I meant to do?”
“Adjust.”
She let out a soft breath, almost a laugh, b
