Seraphine started the next morning before anyone else was properly awake.
Aelara heard her first movement in the main hall, the sound of deliberate footsteps covering the same ground repeatedly in a pattern rather than walking anywhere with direction. She pulled herself out of bed without waking the twins, which took the specific slow care of a person who had spent months learning exactly how lightly she needed to move to keep two sleeping infants sleeping, and went to the doorway.
Seraphine was moving through the hall in a loose circuit, pausing at intervals that seemed arbitrary but clearly weren't. At certain points she stopped entirely and pressed a flat palm against the wall and held it there for thirty or forty seconds before moving on. At the center of the room she stood still for so long that Aelara almost went back to bed thinking nothing else was going to happen.
