Elara learned quickly that Regina punished honesty more cruelly than deceit.
Sofia waited for her in the eastern gallery, where the windows were tall and narrow and the light entered like a question it already knew the answer to. She stood with her hands folded, posture perfect, expression mild—polite, in the way wolves were polite before they circled.
"You left the council wing early," Sofia said.
It was not a question.
Elara slowed her steps, schooling her face into something neutral, something tired. "Did I?" she replied. "Time runs strangely here."
Sofia smiled. A soft thing. Practiced. "Everything runs strangely here."
Ah. We're doing this, Elara thought. Fine.
She stopped beside one of the windows and looked out at the fog curled along the lower courtyards. The height made her dizzy if she stared too long—another design choice meant to remind humans where they stood.
"What did Alessandro tell you?" Sofia asked.
There it was. No preamble. No courtesy.
