Warmth After a Lifetime of Cold
The palis wood door shut behind them with a soft, positive click—a solitary sound that closed the world outside. In the space of a heartbeat, palace, court, prying eyes and heavy crowns—all dissolved.
Silence unfolded in its stead.
Warmth held sway here, within this room, like an underground kingdom. Candlelight poured golden pools on the floor, playing softly against walls shrouded in soft darkness. The fire spat low in the distance, its light a shifting beam, as the night breeze whispered softly through the open balcony, waving past sheer curtains like a phantom of liberty.
Sona blinked slowly.
Her silver-white locks outlined her face, loose strands dancing in candlelight as if made of moonlight itself. Her cheeks still flushed, her breathing soft, but her chest rose and fell with something unnamed—a burden lifting, something readjusting. The space around her, this great hall she had long held in favor as Queen, felt… unrecognizable.
