The morning sun over the Imperial Palace was no longer a scorching, oppressive weight. The light felt filtered through silk; warm, golden, and strangely revitalizing. But for Vera, the quiet was the most unsettling part. For years, her mornings had been a series of survival checks: Are my knives sharp? Is the window unlocked? Do the guards have a new patrol route?
Now, for the first time in her life, her primary concern was the mountain of lace and silk sitting on her bed, and the whirlwind of chestnut-brown hair currently raiding her jewelry box.
"Vera, you absolutely cannot wear that black leather vest today. I won't allow it," Sera said, her voice muffled as she peered into a velvet-lined drawer. She pulled out a necklace of raw sapphire shards. "Oh, this! This matches your eyes perfectly. It looks like frozen lightning."
