Chapter 3: The Girl in Silks and Silence
The palace gates opened like the mouth of a sleeping beast.
Alaida stepped through, her bare feet brushing against stone polished smooth by centuries of power. The walls shimmered with gold-veined marble, and the air smelled of incense and iron. She had never seen so much light. Or so much silence.
Thalion walked ahead, his cloak trailing behind him like a shadow stitched in gold. He didn't speak. He didn't look back.
Servants lined the halls, heads bowed. Some glanced at her—at the dirt still clinging to her skin, the white lashes, the moonlight hair. She felt their questions, though none dared ask them.
She was not dressed for this world.
Alaida's heart beat like a frightened bird. She didn't know where she was being taken. She didn't know why she had been chosen. Only that the lion king had looked at her and said, "Follow."
They reached a chamber bathed in amber light. A bath steamed gently. Silks were laid out—ivory and pale gold, threaded with symbols she couldn't read.
Thalion turned to her. His gaze was unreadable.
"You will dine with me tonight," he said.
Alaida nodded, though her voice had vanished.
He left without another word.
She stood alone, trembling in a palace that felt too quiet, too golden, too far from the forest where she had once belonged.