The palace felt wrong.
Even before dawn, when the air should have been crisp and cool, a heavy stuffiness clung to the courtyards like an invisible veil. Lantern flames burned low and unsteady, smoke curling in odd patterns that refused to rise straight.
Maids whispered.
They did not dare raise their voices, but fear had a way of slipping through silence.
"I heard the shadows move on their own last night…" "My cousin swears she saw handprints on the wall that vanished." "They say it's a dark soul… possession…" "No, no, it's worse. It's something summoned."
Rumors spread faster than incense smoke.
Some servants refused to walk alone after sunset. Others tied red threads around their wrists or tucked talismans into their sleeves, praying they would not be the next to witness something unexplainable.
Even the guards felt it.
Veterans who had stood unflinching before blades found themselves gripping their spears tighter, scanning corners that had never frightened them before.
