Kaelen
Evening comes slowly, and I feel it pressing against me before I even notice the fading light outside.
I move through the corridors carefully, listening, measuring. Not because anyone is pursuing me—no one would dare—but because this house rewards caution and punishes curiosity in equal measure. Every sound, every echo, every sudden shift in light could signal observation, judgment, or worse. I have learned that much over twenty-three years.
I find Sierra again. She looks somewhat lighter, if only in spirit, with a little weight of the day’s duties done. I watch her for a heartbeat, just long enough to let instinct take over before she notices me.
She blinks at me, startled. I almost speak, almost say the words I feel hammering in my chest—Be careful. Don’t get caught eavesdrop
