A few months later...
The sky was a blue so bright it almost stung, the kind of morning that made the gardens seem to shine with their own inner light.
The castle, usually abuzz with the sound of Kaelith's running feet and Aliyah's baby giggles, felt different today muted, strained, as if everyone was holding their breath.
Elysia had woken early, feeling that tightness in her chest she remembered from the days before a great loss.
She sat for a long while at Kaelith's bedside, watching her daughter sleep with her locket clutched in one fist and her other hand curled around her favorite stuffed griffin. It was strange, Elysia thought, how something so ordinary—just another goodbye—could feel so enormous.
Because it wasn't just any goodbye. Sarisa had made her decision.
After many gentle, difficult conversations, Sarisa had announced, with a quiet dignity that left no room for argument, that she would return to the Celestian Castle.
