William woke at five with the specific clarity of someone whose mind had been working through the night and had arrived somewhere by morning.
Not about Isolde specifically. About the shape of what was coming, which was different from the shape of what had passed. The past week had been oriented around a threat — the Hollow Court contract, Derek's betrayal, the network's operational layer pressing toward a specific window. The shape of it was convergent. Everything moving toward a point.
What was coming had a different shape.
More open. Less defined. The inquiry working through its legal timeline. Sera Vane continuing to build the definitive case for the third principal. His father somewhere in the capital managing a situation that had moved past his ability to manage. And Isolde Varen, who had been in this building for two days with a purpose she had apparently decided the moment was right to begin acting on.
He lay still for a moment and let the shape of it settle.
