[WARNING! Unedited! Don't buy!]
The court did not sleep after that.
Selene felt it in the walls, in the servants' hurried steps, in the way guards doubled at every archway. The manor thrummed with unease, like a beast pacing before a storm. She stood at the window long after midnight, watching lanterns drift through the courtyards below.
"They won't stop now," she said quietly.
Alistair leaned against the far pillar, arms crossed. "No."
"Because of me."
"Because of what you represent."
She turned to face him. "Which is?"
"Uncertainty," he replied. "And choice."
She frowned. "You keep saying that like it's a crime."
"In our world," he said, "it often is."
A messenger arrived before dawn—pale, breathless, bowing low. "My lord. The council convenes at first light."
Alistair dismissed him with a gesture.
Selene exhaled. "This is where they decide whether I'm an asset or a liability."
"They'll try to decide," Alistair corrected. "Whether they succeed is another matter."
