Maely´s POV
The North Wing of the castle was nearly deserted.
Servants moved silently through the shadows. The recent chaos had left gaps—spaces I could slip through unnoticed.
I knew where to find him.
Vix was not one to mingle easily. He preferred the heights, the edges. Balconies and towers were his territory. Sometimes I saw him alone, speaking to the crows perched on the ledges. And that was enough for me.
I found him by an arched window, torso leaning against the stone, staring at the moon as if it owed him something. He had that unsettling stillness predators often have—or those once beloved by the darkness.
“You don't sleep, my lord?” I asked softly, stopping a few steps away.
He turned his head, his eyes like liquid oil, glowing without need of light.
“Neither do you.”
I
