Liselotte slipped out of the Silvaris Palace under a silence so complete that it felt like the night itself was holding its breath. Johan de Langride had sent the message well in advance, and the ones who came for her were shadows more than people. They didn't speak when they entered her chambers. They didn't bow. They didn't even look at her long. They simply moved.
The three of them travelled through passages that Liselotte had never seen, though she had lived in the palace for years. Narrow stone corridors hidden behind walls, stairways that curved into darkness, and a low hallway lit only by the faint glimmer of old torches that had not been used for decades. Every step was certain, every turn already known. They never hesitate once.
