I woke before the palace lights eased to morning. Habit. Today felt like a clean board. No speeches. No drama. Just work I could stack.
The ops wing was already awake. Reika stood by the wall display with coffee and a slate. Seraphina had a pencil behind her ear and a neat stack of blank notepads. Cecilia leaned against a column with that calm that makes other people fix their posture. Tiamat and Lyra arrived together, quiet as rain on stone. The Viserion royals kept this one small—no entourage. King Marcus signed a two-line authorization and slid it back. Queen Lyralei nodded once. Done.
Three rules for Stormgate Flats: no media or private drones, hard stop on the first drift alert, full logs to the Royal Ward Office today. We all agreed. The permits hit Reika's hand. We moved.
Before we left, Lyra gave us a short threat brief. She kept it clinical.
