Nigel woke up with a crick in his neck, his back still pressed against the cold wall near the corridor. Sunlight streamed faintly through the stained-glass windows, warming the stone floor in streaks of gold and red.
He blinked hard, stretched his limbs, and rubbed his eyes. His neck was sore, but that wasn't what weighed on his mind. It was the strange silence behind Kaelith's chamber door.
He had waited all night.
Watched.
Waited.
And still, Hale never came out.
The same servant who moved like clockwork, always returning to his quarters just before sunrise, had vanished into Kaelith's room and had not emerged.
Nigel leaned his back fully against the wall and whispered under his breath.
"What is going on between the prince and his servant?"
He shook his head, chuckled softly, and looked down the hallway as a maid passed by without noticing him.
