Night had long settled over the palace. Its silence seeped into the walls like fog, muffling even the faintest of sounds. In the hidden room behind Ajax's bookshelf, I sat alone, curled on the edge of the small bed, the dim glow of the bedside lamp flickering gently across the stone walls.
Sleep refused to come. I had not even tried.
The blankets lay untouched behind me, and my fingers were laced together tightly as I stared ahead, unblinking. My thoughts were a tangled storm of fear, frustration, and desperate determination.
Amy had been with me throughout the day. She had brought me food, kept company, and gently shared what had unfolded in the palace while I was gone. Her voice trembled with anger every time she mentioned Lily, how that girl had smiled sweetly while spewing lie, how she wept on command and had somehow fooled even him, the emperor himself.
I sighed, rubbing my temples as the weight of it all pressed down on my chest.
Lily had everyone believing her.
