I woke with a gasp in my own bed. Grey light slipped between the brocade curtains. Both hands went to my throat and chest before I recognized the room. My nightgown was clean, my body intact, and no one had extracted my soul. The black silk cravat had disappeared along with every sign that I had spent the night on Valerius’s divan.
A cream-colored sheet of parchment rested on my bedside table where no paper had been the night before. Sharp calligraphy covered it in dried-blood ink. Valerius had carried me here, changed my clothes, and left a riddle beside my sleeping head without waking me.
*Where the castle weeps stone tears and secrets turn to dust, the final piece of your game awaits. Claim it, and face your king.*
The system responded at once. *[Analysis: The Boss has escalated the
