Third Person Narrative:
Night had settled deeply over the palace by the time the knock sounded against Selena's chamber door. The corridors beyond her room were long since emptied of movement, the servants retired and the guards pacing in distant intervals along the outer halls.
Within her chamber, the air was warm and still, faintly scented with lavender oil that burned low in a glass dish near her bedside.
Selena had been sleeping, though not heavily. The events of the past days had made true rest difficult, and her dreams had been shallow and restless.
The knock came again, measured and deliberate.
Her eyes opened at once.
For a few seconds she lay motionless, listening to the silence that followed. Waiting for the person to call out her name. But she got nothing. Whoever stood outside knew she would recognize their voice.
She drew in a slow breath.
