[Next Day: Morning]
•Amethyst Kingdom (Throne Room)•
[Philip's POV]
The marble floor was cold beneath my knee. Not the familiar cold of morning stone, but something deeper—a chill that seeped through the fabric of my trousers and into the bone, as if the throne room itself was drawing the warmth from my body. Sunlight streamed through the tall glass windows, painting the polished floor in fractured colors.
My shoulder throbbed. A dull, persistent ache that pulsed with every heartbeat, radiating outward from where the masked man's bullet had grazed me. The wound was clean—I'd treated it properly during the ride—but it hadn't stopped hurting.
