The palace was drowned in silence. Outside, the wind whispered faintly against the stone walls, stirring the embroidered curtains that guarded Jazell's chamber.
Moonlight blends through the tall windows, pale and ghostly, stretching long silver fingers across the floor of polished marble. The scent of roses and burning incense lingered in the air, soft but heavy, like a dream that clung too tightly.
Jazell lies asleep on her bed, a canopy of silk draping overhead. Her breathing was steady, regal even in slumber. The chamber was an ocean of velvet shadows: the gilded furniture loomed quietly. There was a hush—until a ripple of movement broke the silence.
From the window a snake slipped into the room. Its scales glimmered faintly, catching the moonlight like tiny pieces of polished obsidi
