Lena's POV
They came for me in the evening.
Not roughly. Not under guard in the formal sense. But brought. There was no version of Corvus arriving at my door that felt like a choice. He knocked once. He looked at me. He said, "Come with me." And I went.
Because what else was I going to do? Run? Fight? Lie? I had been lying for months. I was tired of lying.
The corridors were empty. The palace was quiet. Corvus walked ahead of me. He did not look back. He did not speak. He just walked, and I followed, and my footsteps echoed on the stone.
I knew where we were going before we got there. Not the council chamber. Not the small sitting room where Elara met with advisors. Her private study. The room where she worked alone, where the books were marked and the papers were real and there was no performance of the official.
Corvus stopped at the door. He looked at me. His face was still. Unreadable.
"She's waiting," he said.
Then he left.
