"The heart is a treacherous thing; it reaches for what the mind denies, and in the silence of night, its whispers become impossible to ignore."
Elias's POV
The moon had climbed high over the Northern Kingdom, pale and cold, draped in veils of thin cloud. Most of the castle had long since gone to sleep, the courtiers wrapped in their silks and furs, the guards pacing their appointed routes with mechanical precision, and the cooks huddled in the kitchens, scrubbing the last pans.
But I could not rest, I tried and failed, dammit. I had turned on my mattress again and again, staring at the carved beams above, listening to the night winds batter the shutters. But the silence only made the storm louder.
